This study compares two end-cooling systems, convective–radiant combined cooling (FR+FC) and fan coil convection (FC), through continuous experimental investigations, focusing on the impact of window-to-wall ratio (WWR) on indoor thermal comfort, temperature distribution, humidity, and energy consumption. Results show that increasing WWR amplifies indoor temperature fluctuations. While the overall predicted mean vote (PMV) remains within the Level-II comfort range (−1.0 to +1.0), the FC system exhibits pronounced local PMV gradients near west-facing windows, especially at 80% WWR, where transient PMV reaches 1.26 close to the window, 0.89 higher than at the room center. In contrast, the FR+FC system significantly reduces spatial PMV variations, maintaining local PMV within acceptable limits for most of the day. Energy analysis reveals that FC energy consumption rises with WWR, increasing by 7.11% from 40% to 80% WWR, whereas FR+FC energy use decreases by 29.26% over the same range, demonstrating its superior handling of radiant loads. Furthermore, the convective–radiant system exhibits a high average hourly cooling performance coefficient. These findings indicate that FR+FC systems provide better thermal comfort and energy efficiency in high-WWR spaces, making them particularly suitable for summer operation in window-intensive buildings.

Traditional Tujia wooden dwellings are important carriers of regional architectural culture, yet research on their indoor thermal environment and climate-adaptive optimization remains limited. This study investigates a typical “‘一’-shaped, three-bay” Tujia traditional timber dwelling in northwestern Hunan, China, using a combination of field surveys, on-site measurements, occupants’ thermal sensation questionnaires, and numerical simulation to quantitatively assess its summer indoor thermal environment and envelope optimization strategies. The results show that these dwellings generally exhibit hot and humid indoor conditions in summer, with marked thermal differences among functional spaces. The fireplace room demonstrates the poorest thermal performance, while the bedrooms perform relatively better. Simulation calibrated against field measurements further indicates that, without substantially altering the traditional architectural character, indoor thermal comfort can be effectively improved by enhancing the thermal performance of the envelope and optimizing openings, particularly window design and the window-to-wall ratio. The findings suggest that traditional Tujia wooden dwellings in northwestern Hunan embody valuable climate-responsive construction wisdom and retain significant potential for further improvement under contemporary living requirements. This study can provide a reference for the sustainable conservation, adaptive renewal, and improvement of rural living environments of traditional timber dwellings in northwestern Hunan and other regions with similar climatic conditions.

Membrane materials have been widely applied in large-span roofs and atrium enclosures of commercial spaces due to their light weight, high strength, excellent light transmittance, and geometric adaptability. However, their high solar transmittance and low thermal inertia often lead to conflicts between daylight performance and thermal comfort. This study proposes an interpretable surrogate-model-based optimization framework for improving the photothermal performance of membrane-structured atrium spaces. A parametric model was developed with five design variables, including visible transmittance, solar heat gain coefficient, membrane area ratio, roof lift height, and spatial arrangement. A total of 800 simulation cases were generated using Latin hypercube sampling, followed by performance prediction using an XGBoost-based surrogate model, SHAP-based interpretation, and NSGA-II multi-objective optimization. The results show that the surrogate model accurately captures the nonlinear relationship between membrane design parameters and photothermal performance, achieving coefficients of determination of 0.90 and 0.86 for daylight compliance rate and thermal comfort performance, respectively. SHAP analysis identifies visible transmittance and membrane area ratio as dominant factors for daylight performance, while visible transmittance, area ratio, and roof lift height are critical for thermal comfort. A membrane area ratio of 0.47–0.56 provides a balanced range between daylight improvement and thermal load control, and roof lift heights above 6.55 m contribute to thermal comfort improvement. The proposed framework provides an efficient and interpretable approach for photothermal co-optimization of membrane atrium design.

Lithium-ion batteries are widely deployed in electric vehicles, yet their performance and safety are strongly constrained by elevated operating temperatures, which may accelerate degradation and, in extreme cases, trigger thermal runaway. This study numerically investigates the thermal performance of a Tesla valve-based cold plate for battery thermal management, with the aim of enhancing heat dissipation efficiency through multi-parameter collaborative optimization. An initial screening is conducted using orthogonal experimental design to evaluate the effects of shunt angle (30°–50°), number of unit pairs (3–7), channel asymmetry ratio (0–0.5), and branch channel width (2–4 mm) on maximum temperature difference and pressure drop. The results indicate that the number of unit pairs and the asymmetry ratio are the dominant factors governing thermal and hydraulic performance. To further quantify these relationships, an optimal Latin hypercube sampling strategy is combined with Kriging surrogate modeling to construct response surfaces linking design variables to system performance. Subsequently, a multi-objective optimization based on the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) genetic algorithm is performed to simultaneously minimize temperature non-uniformity and pressure drop, yielding a Pareto-optimal solution set. The optimal configuration corresponds to a shunt angle of 30°, 7 unit pairs, a zero asymmetry ratio, and a branch channel width of 4 mm. Compared with the baseline design, this configuration reduces the maximum temperature difference by 9.13% and the average temperature difference by 15.03%, while also decreasing pressure drop by 0.36%.