Comparative Technical and Economic Analysis of Heating Schemes for Rural Buildings
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Currently, heating supply in rural areas of China still predominantly relies on conventional coal-fired heating, which suffers from poor thermal insulation performance and severe environmental pollution. To address the issues of energy waste and environmental pollution associated with traditional heating methods in rural China, this study selects a detached rural residential building in Jilin City as the research object. A building thermal load calculation model incorporating phase-change material (PCM) walls and dynamic simulation models for five clean heating coupling systems are developed using TRNSYS software, so as to analyze the influence of PCM placement at different positions within the wall assembly on the building’s thermal load, as well as the technical and economic performance of the five heating systems. The results show that, when PCM is placed on the inner side of the building envelope, the peak heating load is reduced from 15,234.2 W to 11,266.5 W, and the cumulative heating load drops from 33,744.3 kWh to 25,688.9 kWh. Compared with the conventional PV (photovoltaic) system, the PVT (photovoltaic–thermal) system achieves an 11% improvement in power generation efficiency. Among the five clean heating systems, the PVT–ground-source heat pump system exhibits the lowest energy consumption, while the PVT–biomass boiler system records the highest energy consumption. Based on life-cycle cost analysis, the PVT–biomass boiler system delivers the optimal economic performance, with a equivalent annual cost of 9285.48 CNY.
Source: Processes
DOI: 10.3390/pr14162662
Authors: Dan Wu, Shuangli Hua, Qi Qin, Yue Zhao, Long Gao
Language: English
Subfield: Building and Construction
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,896
Award: G2835860331
OpenAlex ID: W7203822421