The loss of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers in agricultural runoff is a global environmental problem, attracting worldwide attention. In the last decades, the constructed wetland has been increasingly used for mitigating the loss of nitrogen and phosphate from agricultural runoff, while the substrate, plants, and wetland structure design remain far from clearly understood. In this paper, the optimum substrates and plant species were identified by reviewing their treatment capacity from the related studies. Specifically, the top three suitable substrates are gravel, zeolite, and slag. In terms of the plant species, emergent plants are the most widely used in the constructed wetlands. Eleocharis dulcis, Typha orientalis, and Scirpus validus are the top three optimum emergent plant species. Submerged plants (Hydrilla verticillata, Ceratophyllum demersum, and Vallisneria natans), free-floating plants (Eichhornia crassipes and Lemna minor), and floating-leaved plants (Nymphaea tetragona and Trapa bispinosa) are also promoted. Moreover, the site selection methods for constructed wetland were put forward. Because the existing research results have not reached an agreement on the controversial issue, more studies are still needed to draw a clear conclusion of effective structure design of constructed wetlands. This review has provided some recommendations for substrate, plant species, and site selections for the constructed wetlands to reduce nutrients from agricultural runoff.

The window-to-wall ratio (WWR) significantly affects the indoor thermal environment, causing changes in buildings’ energy demands. This research couples the “Envi-met” model and the “TRNSYS” model to predict the impact of the window-to-wall ratio on indoor cooling energy demands in south Hunan. With the coupled model, “Envi-met + TRNSYS”, fixed meteorological parameters around the exterior walls are replaced by varied data provided by Envi-met. This makes TRNSYS predictions more accurate. Six window-to-wall ratios are considered in this research, and in each scenario, the electricity demand for cooling is predicted using “Envi-met + TRNSYS”. Based on the classification of thermal perception in south Hunan, the TRNSYS predictions of the electricity demand start with 30 °C as the threshold of refrigeration. The analytical results reveal that in a 6-storey residential building with 24 households, in order to maintain the air temperature below 30 °C, the electricity required for cooling buildings with 0% WWR, 20% WWR, 40% WWR, 60% WWR, 80% WWR, and 100% WWR are respectively 0 KW·h, 19.6 KW·h, 133.7 KW·h, 273.1 KW·h, 374.5 KW·h, and 461.9 KW·h. This method considers the influence of microclimate on the exterior wall and improves the accuracy of TRNSYS in predicting the energy demand for indoor cooling.

Trees positively improve the annual thermal comfort of the built environment in tropical areas, where climate change is slight throughout the year. However, for areas with high changes in climate all year, the current studies have only explored the summer cooling performance of trees without the impact of different types of trees on annual thermal comfort, especially in cold seasons. Therefore, to quantify the impacts and scientifically guide the optimization of green space layout in hot summer and cold winter areas, this study selected Changsha City as the study area and analyzed how the annual thermal comfort is affected by evergreen trees and deciduous trees, which are two common types of trees in hot summer and cold winter areas. The analytical results indicated that the difference in the effect of deciduous and evergreen trees on outdoor thermal comfort was insignificant in summer, where the difference in the monthly mean PET for the three summer months was slight, being 0.28 °C, 0.14 °C, and 0.29 °C, respectively. However, evergreen trees greatly exacerbated winter cold compared to deciduous trees, with a monthly mean PET decrease by nearly 1.0 °C and an hourly PET reduced by up to 3.57 °C. The difference is mainly attributed to the absorption and reflection of solar radiation by the tree canopy, as well as the cooling and humidifying effect of the tree leaf. In hot summer and cold winter areas, outdoor thermal comfort is still in the “comfortable” and “slightly warm” acceptable stage despite the warming effect of deciduous trees in the spring and autumn seasons. Planting evergreen trees is an inevitable thermal mitigation choice for tropical areas. However, for the areas with high annual climate change, such as hot summer and cold winter areas in China, a change in empirical tree planting patterns and selecting deciduous trees where appropriate will improve year-round outdoor thermal comfort.

As the window-to-wall ratio, a microclimatic factor in residential districts, regulates the indoor thermal environment and implicates the energy consumption, this research was aimed at interpreting the microclimate effects of the window-to-wall ratio on the indoor thermal environment of the non-Hvac building located in the block from the view of a full year. Urban built parameters and building material parameters applied in Chenzhou were investigated, with the ENVI-met model serving as the analytical tool calculating the meteorological data recorded in the local national meteorological station. The thermal perception criterion of Chenzhou citizens was investigated, and thermal isotherms were employed to interpret the thermal perception distribution throughout the year. Analytical results revealed that the annual indoor thermal environment would deteriorate along with the growth of the window-to-wall ratio in Chenzhou, with the very hot thermal perception environment covering the months from March to October once the window-to-wall ratio outnumbered 60.00%. Furthermore, the hot and very hot thermal perception environments originated in the ranges of 0.00% to 20.00% and that of 20.00% to 40.00%, respectively. Furthermore, if the window-to-wall ratios (WWRs) outnumbered 40%, their effects on the indoor thermal perception environment would gradually decrease and be powerless once that exceeded 80%.

Indoor cooling is preferred during hot summers but unappreciated in cold winters. With this research, we aimed to clarify the cooling performances of roof greening throughout the year and identify the optimum roof greening coverage for the indoor thermal environment in Chenzhou, a city in China with hot summers and cold winters. The layout of buildings, building materials, and local climate data of Chenzhou were collected. The ENVI-met model was applied as the analytical tool after its accuracy was confirmed by a field experiment. The Kriging model was employed to interpret the annual effects of roof greening. The analytical results revealed that in Chenzhou, roof greening reduced indoor temperatures throughout the year, and the higher the coverage of roof greening, the greater the performance of indoor cooling. Moreover, hot climates enhanced the indoor cooling performances of roof greening. From the view of annual thermal perception, the increase in roof greening coverage reduced the duration of warm perceptions throughout the year and extended the perceptions of slightly warm, slightly cool, and cool. Generally, increased roof greening coverage improved the indoor thermal perception in Chenzhou throughout the year. The ENVI-met + Kriging model, an evaluation method of annual cycles, can be used to evaluate the annual performance of roof greening in terms of indoor thermal environment in other climate zones.