Towards Improving Rural Living Environment for Chinese Cold Region Based on Investigation of Thermal Environment and Space Usage Status

In recent years, many scholars worldwide have carried out research related to the relationship between the construction of rural dwellings and the indoor thermal environment in response to the issue of building sustainability. China’s rural revitalization has developed rapidly in recent years. Although previous research showed that the poor indoor thermal environment of vernacular dwellings has negative effects on residents’ thermal comfort and health, it is poorly studied in terms of residents’ space usage habits, their thermal comfort satisfaction, and their thermal sensation. Linyi, the largest and most populous city in Shandong, China, was selected as the research area to investigate the thermal environment and space usage by using in-depth questionnaire interviews and systematical measurements. The results show that there are seasonal differences in space usage in a typical vernacular dwelling. The field measurements show that the indoor temperature is 0–5 °C in winter if there is no heating and 26 °C in summer. By comprehensive comparison, it is found that there is a contradiction between residential space usage and the functional layout; residents choose to use rooms with worse thermal conditions in winter. The analysis of the questionnaires shows that residents have higher satisfaction with the indoor thermal environment in summer than in winter, and the thermal comfort range of residents is 23.3~30 °C in summer and 11.25~17.5 °C in winter. Additionally, the neutral thermal temperature of the indoor space is 26.7 °C in summer and 14.4 °C in winter. Although residents have better adaptability to the cold climate, the measurement data in winter are still beyond the comfort range. We suggest that these results can be used as a reference and data base for improving the living environment of rural vernacular dwellings in Chinese cold regions.