Along with the rapid urbanization and economic growth of China over the past decades, the thermal comfort needs of the people in this region have risen dramatically, and at the same time, promoting building energy efficiency is cited as part of the major projects in the 14th five-year plan for energy efficiency improvement. In addition, the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic has plunged people into long-term panic, and promoted the entire construction industry to think about a healthier and more sustainable living environment. To respond to the imbalance between energy supply and demand, an optimization analysis based on energy use is developed, assessing the energy efficiency of the window-to-wall ratio (WWR) design and calculating the energy consumption of three different types of residential buildings for both cooling and heating loads as well as for year-round loads. Owing to its harsh climate and huge energy consumption, in this study, the Hot-summer and Cold-winter (HSCW) zone of China was chosen as the experimental setting for the optimization analysis of WWR. Then, in the three main types of residential buildings, including detached houses, multi-story dwellings and high-rise dwellings, a correlation between WWR_S and energy consumption in the cooling season, heating season and year-round was built. The comparisons between the WWR_S and energy consumption for different types of residential buildings are presented. The design optimization recommendation for WWR_S are proposed. It has significant positive meanings for the development of green and sustainably designed residential buildings that offer high levels of thermal comfort and energy efficiency.

An excellent parking system can affect the willingness of the elderly to drive an automobile for travel and for participating in social activities. However, few studies have examined the requirement of width of current parking spaces for the elderly and which factors influenced the selection of wider or narrower parking space by older participants. Two studies have been carried out in order to fill gaps for these issues. The first one examined minimum width by having 130 individuals aged 60+ alight into parking spaces of different widths. The results showed that most older individuals needed wider-than-standard parking spaces. Some potential demographic factors were also examined by one-way analyses of variance. The second study was conducted to estimate the factors affecting selection of parking spaces that were wider or narrower than the standard. Based on analysis of data by a logistic regression model, the result presented that the selection was mainly affected by age, types of aids, driving experience, body mass index (BMI) and health condition. Finally, we propose a new concept of parking system, which will help older people with different needs to park safely and smoothly. These studies will promote the ability of governments to design more effective parking spaces to enhance freedom for older adults.