The Local Climate Zone (LCZ), as a foundational element of urban climate zone classification proposed by Oke and Stewart, categorizes urban surface types based on 10 influential parameters affecting the urban heat island effect, such as building density, surface reflectivity, sky view factor, and surface roughness length. This method divides cities into 17 different Local Climate Zones (LCZs) to standardize climate observations and promote global climate research exchange, offering valuable insights for heat island studies. In this study, we enhance the existing local climate zones spatial classification approach by focusing on Xi’an city’s urban layout and architectural features. By using urban spatial indicators and employing a supervised classification approach and a spatial clustering method with land parcels as statistical units, we investigate typical urban areas and classify Xi’an’s land parcels into 17 or 15 distinct local climate zones. Subsequently, through the evaluation of two distinct classification methods, the most suitable urban microclimate zoning method for Xi’an city was selected. This optimization of the local climate zoning representation introduces a spatial classification method tailored to urban climate planning and control, utilizing urban spatial indicators and remote sensing data. The resulting urban climate zoning map not only supports sample selection for urban heat environment parameter observation but also aids urban planners in identifying spatial distribution patterns for climate zoning.

Research on the correlation between wind and block spatial form focuses mainly on hot and humid cities. However, cold regions are also experiencing high summer temperatures due to global climate change. Enhancing wind speed in blocks through urban spatial control improves comfort. Existing research cannot be directly applied to cold regions due to natural differences. Using Xi’an as an example, this study explores the impact of high-rise residential block spatial form on internal and external wind environments through field measurements and simulations. Optimal strategies for block planning and architectural design are identified to improve the wind environment. Results show that blocks with high buildings on the south and north sides and low buildings in the middle achieve a more comfortable internal wind environment. Gradually increasing building height from south to north has minimal impact on downwind blocks. Reducing the angle between the main facade and dominant wind direction enhances the residential area’s wind environment. Specific spatial planning and design strategies are summarized for early-stage decision-making.

Economic development limits the living quality of rural residents. In particular, the residential buildings in northern China generally have poor thermal comfort in winter, which affects the physical and mental health of residents. Because of the separation of rooms, residents who live in cave dwellings often have to enter and leave rooms in the course of their daily lives, which leads to worse thermal feelings in winter. Because of the low price and the wind insulation and heat storage, sunrooms are widely used in renovations of rural houses. The traditional purpose of the addition of a sunroom is to provide a buffer room between outdoor and indoor spaces. This manuscript focuses on improving the degree of thermal comfort by means of a sunroom connecting all rooms. This study selected two families with the same number of members and similar daily activities as the study cases. One of the families had a sunroom built to connect its bedroom, living room, and washroom. The household’s air temperature and human comfort were measured both on holidays and on workdays. It is demonstrated that adding a sunroom can significantly stabilize the thermal environment and increase the air temperature in both the bedroom and the living room. Adding a sunroom can increase the air temperature of a cave dwelling’s main room by 1.0 °C on workdays and 4.3 °C on holidays. A cave dwelling with a sunroom can also provide residents with a decent level of human comfort for 24.4% of their daily time on workdays and 39.1% of the time during holidays. This research demonstrates that a sunroom can not only increase the air temperature in cave dwellings but also enhance the stability of human comfort. The conclusion provides new renovation ideas for improving the living comfort of cave dwellings.

This study investigates the impact of spatial changes over a 400-year period on the summer microclimate of a residential courtyard in China. Using ENVI-met simulations, we analyze how factors such as courtyard orientation, building height, and opening positions affect the thermal environment. The results show that east–west-oriented courtyards experienced 0.2–0.4 °C lower daytime temperatures compared to north–south ones. Additionally, taller surrounding buildings increased the courtyard’s average daytime temperature by approximately 0.3–0.5 °C, while courtyards with a single opening facing the prevailing wind maintained the lowest temperatures. These findings underscore the importance of historical spatial characteristics in shaping microclimates and offer key insights for contemporary urban planning. By incorporating design strategies based on these historical spatial features, such as optimizing courtyard orientation, enhancing building height variability, and creating appropriate openings for natural ventilation, urban planners can improve microclimate conditions, reduce reliance on mechanical cooling, and enhance energy efficiency. This approach not only contributes to lowering carbon emissions but also boosts resilience to extreme heat events in urban areas, especially in regions facing rapid urbanization and climate change challenges.

Amidst global warming and energy crises, low-carbon building design is essential. China, the largest carbon emitter, commits to peaking emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. This study focuses on low-carbon strategies for industrial buildings in cold regions, aiming to develop optimization designs centered on carbon emissions. Using ENERGYPLUS and the “standard coal method”, it quantifies operational carbon emissions and analyzes the impact of design methods on energy consumption across architectural layout, materials, and photovoltaic technology. This study, set in Xi’an and Yulin, assesses low-carbon techniques in cold and severely cold climate zones. It demonstrates that, for the architectural layout, the orientation of the building has a relatively small impact on carbon emissions, while an increase in the window-to-wall ratio significantly increases the carbon emissions of the building. For the building materials, the form of window glass, the reflectivity of roofs and walls, and the thickness of roof and wall insulation significantly affect carbon emissions. For the photovoltaic technology, the angle of photovoltaic roofs has no significant impact on carbon emissions. By further comparing the effectiveness of various low-carbon design technologies in reducing building carbon emissions, it was found that choosing more appropriate wall insulation boards can provide more significant carbon reduction effects at the same cost.