Analysis of indoor temperature-humidity index in pig housing using building energy simulation

Recent global warming has increased the frequency of extreme weather events, intensifying heat stress in pigs and leading to a growing number of heat-related mortalities.This study aims to investigate the effects of various environmental and operational conditions on the thermal environment inside pig houses and to provide fundamental data for developing strategies to improve energy efficiency and climate resilience.A standard pig house model was developed based on the design guidelines of the Ministry of Agriculture using a Building Energy Simulation (BES) approach.A total of 256 simulations were conducted by combining region (16), weather dataset type (2), insulation level (4), and cooling system operation (2).Hourly indoor temperature and relative humidity were obtained from the simulations and used to calculate the Temperature-Humidity Index (THI).Four comparison groups were then established to evaluate variations in THI under different conditions.The results indicated that region, weather dataset type, and cooling system operation had significant effects on THI, whereas insulation level did not show a statistically significant influence.This study quantitatively demonstrates the relative impacts of regional, meteorological, insulation, and cooling conditions on the thermal environment of pig houses.The findings are expected to provide useful reference data for improving thermal environments in pig housing and for establishing strategies related to energy efficiency and climate adaptation.