The Tumochuan area in Inner Mongolia, China, is a key geographical region where Mongolian and Han cultures have long coexisted, giving rise to a unique system of raw earth dwellings. These structures blend the green building wisdom of nomadic and agricultural traditions, incorporating passive climate regulation strategies with significant ecological and architectural value. However, these traditional dwellings are increasingly being replaced by modern buildings, and their environmental benefits remain underexplored. This study focuses on Tumochuan earth dwellings, identifying their spatial prototypes through field research and analyzing local climate data using Climate Consultant software. From this, general climate adaptation strategies and design references were derived, and passive design features embedded in the spatial prototypes were further extracted. Ecotect Analysis software was then used for quantitative evaluation. Results show that these dwellings enhance heat gain, reduce heat loss, and adapt well to the cold regional climate through a comprehensive climate response system. After applying the strategies, energy consumption dropped by 12.9%. This study uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to reveal the climate-adaptable design of the residence, providing theoretical support for its protection and offering a localised green design reference for the development of residential buildings in cold regions.
Wang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.