Taguchi Optimization and Thermal Stability Analysis of a Timber Dwellings Building in Hot-humid and Cold-humid Areas

Thermal stability in buildings is crucial to energy saving. In hot-humid and cold-humid regions, timber dwellings are susceptible to outdoor climate fluctuations due to different thermal properties of building envelopes and irrational architectural forms, which results in different thermal stability performance. Although extensive studies have studied the effect of concrete structure on thermal stability, there is lack of thermal stability studies of timber dwellings. This study quantitatively investigates the impact of exterior wall insulations, window constructions, window-to-wall ratio, and shading on annual thermal stability of timber dwellings in hot-humid and cold-humid climates. Taguchi method is used to multi-parameter collaborative optimization. Results show that lower insulation thickness is conducive to enhance thermal stability. The triple low-e insulating glass 6mm/13mm exhibits best thermal stability. When the window-to-wall ratio is 5%, the TOTCR _a of the living room and bedroom decrease by 2206.18°C·h and 1572.03°C·h, respectively. The louver angle of 15° and the louver length ratio within 1.0-1.5 are recommended for optimizing thermal stability of timber dwellings. Orthogonal experimental results demonstrate that the window-wall ratio is the most significant impact on the annual thermal stability of timber dwellings. With a window-wall ratio of 5%, a louver angle of 75°, a louver length ratio of 0.5, a thickness of sandwich insulation of 60 mm, and an external window construction of G3, the thermal stability is optimal. The TOTCR _a can be reduced by 21.21% and 17.50% compared with original one.