Design and optimization of thermal parameters of building envelope for senior living community in Chinese hot summer and cold winter area

As living standards and medical services improve, the elderly population continues to grow, drawing attention to senior living communities. This study analyzes the load characteristics of buildings in five Chinese towns with hot summers and cold winters by simulating their annual cooling and heating loads, exploring the effects of wall insulation thickness and window glazing layers on thermal loads across regions. Through a life cycle cost analysis, this study identifies the most cost-effective wall insulation and window configurations for each location, offering valuable guidance for renovating senior living communities in such climates. The results indicate that annual cooling loads vary from 113.0 W/m² to 145.7 W/m², while heating loads range between 14.7 W/m² and 41.8 W/m². Specifically, Chongqing benefits most from single-glazed windows with a 0.06 m insulation layer, while Changsha, Hefei, Nanjing, and Shanghai opt for double-glazed windows with insulation layers of 0.08 m, 0.10 m, 0.10 m, and 0.06 m respectively for optimal cost-effectiveness. Notably, Shanghai has the lowest life cycle cost, which is about 30% less than that of the other cities. This is attributed to its lower summer cooling load. Overall, the minimum 25-year life cycle cost for upgrading air conditioning and enclosure structures falls between 148kRMB and 165kRMB.