Fire accidents have been reported frequently in Chinese townships over the past few years, where people’s lives and properties have been subjected to huge losses. As a result, a considerable number of traditional villages have disappeared. In this study, field surveys and on-site monitoring were used to study the village of Gao Tuan, while seven scenarios were set up in Pyrosim for simulation and analysis. As indicated by the results of this study, the hidden dangers of Dong traditional settlements in the western Hunan region were identified in terms of the construction materials, street width, and fire use. The Pyrosim simulation analysis results were as follows: scenarios 1/2 show that by utilizing the topography and layout, the wind speed was reduced layer by layer, which reduced the fire spreading disaster by nearly half; scenarios 3/4/5/6 show that, except for the 1000 mm wide street, the degree of fire spreading was negatively correlated with the width of the street, and the fire could no longer be spread to the other side of the street when it was 8000 mm; and scenario 7 shows that, in the case of a fire in a residential house, it is safer to evacuate the people in the building in a unit within 320 s. Based on the survey and Pyrosim simulation results of fire spreading, the strengths and weaknesses of Gaotuan Village in the face of fire events were analyzed, and targeted recommendations are made based on the study for the Dong traditional settlement in the western Hunan region for fire prevention.

This paper aims to analyze the distribution patterns of the Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guizhou rocky desertification area, and provide efficient protection and development strategies. This region has a complex geographical environment, and it is distinguished by hosting China’s largest ethnic minority population and the highest concentration of autonomous ethnic counties among contiguous impoverished areas, with numerous traditional villages. Thus, it is significant to conduct a comprehensive study of traditional villages within this domain, with a particular focus on their centralized preservation and strategic utilization. This research employed ArcGIS and Geodetector software for a rigorous analysis of the spatial distribution characteristics and influential factors of traditional villages in the Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guizhou rocky desertification area. The key findings can be summarized as follows. (1) The traditional villages in this region predominantly exhibit an agglomerative distribution pattern, with pronounced concentrations in southeast Guizhou and secondary concentrations in Anshun and Guilin. (2) Natural environmental factors, social economic factors, and national cultural factors impact the distribution of traditional villages synthetically by positive, median, or negative correlation. (3) The results of the Geodetector show that, significantly, social economic and national cultural factors exert a more pronounced influence than natural environmental factors, especially population density and intangible heritage quantity. The interaction of multiple factors shows an enhanced trend. (4) From the perspective of formation mechanism, natural environmental factors serve as foundational elements shaping the original distribution pattern; national cultural factors act as dominant determinants, accentuating spatial distribution distinctions across various regions and social economic factors emerge as critical catalysts for the sustainable development of traditional villages. The interaction factors can have a more profound impact. Furthermore, it is expected that this study will contribute to the effectiveness of ecology and economy in this area and more analogous regions.

Within China, brick dwellings stand as archetypal relics of traditional habitation, embodying a “living fossil” status. The sustainability of these dwellings is contingent upon the integration of energy-conservation strategies. This study scrutinized and empirically assessed a representative dwelling in the Peking area. Using numerical simulations, the impact on energy consumption of factors such as insulation and glazing type, external wall thickness, insulation thickness, and solar energy utilization was evaluated. The outcomes reveal that introducing external thermal insulation—specifically, expanded polystyrene panels with a thickness of 60 mm and 40 mm for the roof and exterior walls, respectively—along with a sunspace of depth 1.5 m yielded superior energy efficiency. Additionally, substituting conventional roofing with solar tiles exhibited a potential annual electricity generation coupled with an annual solar radiation conversion efficiency of 17%. Collectively, these strategies induced a substantial reduction in annual energy consumption. This study presents tailored energy-conservation measures and provides design decision support for architects’ practical recommendations on thermal environment control of passive traditional dwellings in the Peking area.

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With the implementation of China’s rural revitalization strategy, the sustainable preservation of traditional dwellings has become a research priority. Moreover, with the aging population in the countryside increasing, the limited mobility of the elderly may result in them receiving daily corneal illuminance too low for a healthy circadian stimulus. This work aims to explore the relationship between circadian and daylighting design parameters inside traditional dwellings and to develop easy-to-use methods for guiding indoor circadian design in traditional dwellings in western Hunan. Additionally, it seeks to promote the digitalization and informatization of traditional dwellings in western Hunan for preservation purposes, aiming to integrate these efforts with sustainable tourism and community development, which supports the local economy while preserving cultural heritage. The main contributions are as follows: (i) Systematic evaluation of the indoor lighting and circadian status of traditional Miao dwellings in western Hunan. (ii) Simplification and application of the CS and corneal illuminance fitting model for guiding circadian design, especially suitable for indirect indoor circadian aspects of lighting in daylight scenarios. The simplified model provides quick circadian design feedback and promotes healthy circadian concepts. Its accuracy has been verified by fitting it with simulation data from Climate Studio daylighting software. (iii) Exploration of daylighting conditions using simulation software, focusing on ρ′ (the area-weighted average of room surface reflectance), ρ (the reflectance of the surface where the first reflection occurs), and the WWR (Window-to-wall ratio) in two different types of traditional dwellings. This also includes defining the dwelling parameter intervals necessary for an appropriate circadian stimulus in traditional Miao dwellings in western Hunan. (iv) The analysis suggests that enhancing ρ′ has a greater effect on circadian lighting than WWR, indicating that increasing ρ′ should be the preferred method for achieving high-quality and efficient circadian lighting.

This study presents the CO₂ emissions and energy performance of traditional raw earth dwellings’ envelope retrofitting located in the Zhushan Village, western Hunan Province, China. The numerical simulations of heating energy consumption on the building models were performed using DesignBuilder, an energy simulation program. The energy performance was evaluated using the indexes (including energy consumption, CO₂ emissions, heat balance analysis, and air temperature profiles). The detailed evaluation process of the energy performance is presented as follows. First, the current situation was analyzed through the field research, and two typical building models were built. Second, all schemes were simulated using the DesignBuilder software. Subsequently, the four main retrofit measures (replacing the external insulation windows, setting the external wall insulation layer, setting the roof insulation layer, and setting the ceiling insulation layer) were analyzed, respectively. The optimal parameters of the respective retrofit measure were calculated. Lastly, a multi-objective optimization analysis was conducted on all retrofit plans using the coupling method. In the winter, the results indicated that the “I-shape” dwelling heat consumption of the enclosure structure was reduced by 12.8 kW·h/m², and the CO₂ emissions were reduced by 882.8 kg. While in the benchmark building, the results showed that the “L-shape” dwelling heat consumption of the enclosure structure was decreased by 13.27 kW·h/m², and the CO₂ emissions were reduced by 894.4 kg. As the renewal scheme has been progressively implemented, the whole Zhushan Village will save energy by 11.2 × 10⁴ kW·h after the insulation renewal of the envelope structure is completed.