Zheming Liu, Qianhui Xu, Hong Jin
Outdoor thermal comfort in urban residential blocks significantly affects residents' quality of life and health, and this effect varies seasonally. Severely cold regions experience harsh winters, and with global climate change, thermal environment problems in summer are also emerging. However, there is a lack of research on the seasonal outdoor thermal comfort in severely cold cities. This study takes 156 real residential blocks in Harbin as research cases. Through numerical simulation and statistical analysis, the influence of local climate zone (LCZ) types, block layout types, and morphological parameters on the outdoor thermal environment in winter and summer is explored. The Universal Thermal Climate Index ( UTCI ) is used to evaluate thermal comfort. The results show that the influence of block morphology on UTCI in winter is significantly greater than that in summer, and wind speed has a major impact on outdoor thermal comfort. Compact blocks provide better thermal comfort in both winter and summer. The seasonal thermal comfort level of blocks with hybrid layout type, which is mainly courtyard layout, is higher. This study is of great value and scientific significance for improving the urban living environment and guiding the planning and design of blocks in severely cold regions.