Window energy consumption has become a key factor in designing buildings with optimal energy efficiency. To that end, herein, the use of an energy-saving insulated window (ESIW) is proposed, particularly for winter heat conservation. DeST software was used to evaluate the energy consumption properties of a house with an ESIW-structure window, as well as that of six other window structures currently on the market. The results were subsequently compared. Furthermore, a series of numerical simulations were carried out using Airpak software to investigate the insulation performance of four ESIW models (A, B, C, and D) under different influencing factors. Finally, the response surface method (RSM) was used to obtain the optimal ESIW structure installation conditions and the weight of each factor. The data shows that houses with ESIW-structure windows exhibit a more suitable indoor natural temperature; less heating load, cooling load, and cumulative annual load; and a more feasible price–load ratio than other energy-saving windows. Furthermore, the average temperature gradually decreased in response to decreasing the electric heater power and energy-saving standard, and increasing the heat transfer coefficient (HTC) and window-to-wall ratio (WWR). Thus, as the energy-saving standard (ESS) increases, the importance of the WWR increases in parallel. This study puts forward an HTC prediction formula that is applicable to different conditions. The optimal thermal efficiency conditions consisted of HTC = 1.07 W/m² × K, WWR = 0.26, and an ESS of 75%. This study demonstrates that the ESIW system has optimal energy-saving properties and broad adaptability and operability, which can be applied in building insulation as a key insulation component.

In buildings with the solar heat collection/insulation energy-saving window (SHC/IESW), when the insulation device is placed at night in winter, a double-wall structure façade (DSF) is formed between the glass and the insulation curtain, and the existence of air inlet and outlet leads to cold air penetration. In this paper, the Nusselt number (Nu) correlation and convective heat transfer coefficient (CHTC) of the cavity in SHC/IESW were calculated through an experiment combined with a theoretical analysis. Then, numerical simulation was performed on the fluid dynamics and thermal characteristics caused by air convection in an asymmetrically heated cavity under uniform heat flow conditions, to optimize the SHC/IESW structure and analyze its heat transfer mechanism to solve the problem of convection heat transfer between plates under cold air infiltration. Using the calculation formulas obtained from the experiment, the heat transfer coefficient of SHC/IESW is 1.71 W·m⁻²·K⁻¹. The numerical simulation results showed that with the increase of air layer thickness, the outlet temperature, the average air velocity of the cavity, and the surface temperature of thermal insulation curtain all decrease; with the increase of inlet width, the outlet temperature and the surface temperature of thermal insulation curtain decreases significantly, while the average air velocity of cavity increases. It can help to weaken the convective heat transfer in the cavity and thus, reduce the total heat transfer coefficient to 1.28 W·m⁻²·K⁻¹ when the air layer thickness is 12 mm and the inlet width is 1 mm.

Wind power generation has increased in China to achieve the target of decreasing CO₂ emissions by 2050, but there are high levels of wind curtailment due to the mismatch between electricity supply and demand. This paper proposes a single-stage air source heat pump coupled with thermal storage for building heating purposes. The main objective is to find the proper system designs and operating strategy, which can help to avoid peak demand periods while obtaining minimized running costs and reduced wind energy curtailment. Dynamic simulations were performed using TRNSYS to investigate its use in a typical office building based on an actual electricity tariff, wind power, and meteorological data. The proper system designs, including the tank size and thermal storage temperature, were determined to maximize the system’s performance. It was found that a proper combination of the two parameters exists for a specific application. Further, results showed that the use of auxiliary electric heating is necessary for single-stage air source heat pumps to participate in a wind curtailment reduction. The operating strategy of the system was also studied. Results indicate that by implementing a proper operating strategy, non-renewable power consumption can be reduced by 11% for the studied building, with a total wind power utilization of 3348 kWh during the heating season while still satisfying the heating demands of users. These findings can contribute to the green and low-carbon development of the building industry and further enhance the grid’s accommodation capacity for renewable energy sources.