This village project in the suburbs of Beijing focuses on the problem of indigenous resident loss in rural areas of China. The overall goal is to improve residential comfortableness and realize energy self-sufficiency by means of green transformation, to introduce functions such as creative office, and to realize function conversion and rural revival. The main goal of the project is to explore the technical possibilities and construction realizability of assembled nearly zero energy rural house reconstruction. The approach to this goal is to respond to rural ecology and cold climate in a targeted manner, to use the technical strategy of the passive house to achieve minimum energy requirement, and to combine multiple new solar energy utilization methods to achieve nearly zero energy building. Prefabricated modules are used for the added residential part, and are assembled on site.

PROCESS —— Nearly zero energy building in the rural area combining ultra-low energy consumption with modular assembly The building has improved the nearly zero energy building space system that is suitable for the single-story courtyard layout. The courtyard divides the building into three parts of simple shapes, and air-tightness units are connected with passive house and stairwell wind tower to enhance heat radiation in winter and guide the natural ventilation in transitional seasons.

The building is an experiment of low-cost assembled residential modules. The composite model is consisting of a light steel system and OSB board, and two kinds of thermal insulation materials are filled inside and applied outside to ensure the system’s heat transfer coefficient and airtightness. The standard residential modules from the structure to the interior decoration are completed in the factory, and three modules are combined to a residential unit of complete functions on site. The sloping roof uses skylights to achieve natural lighting and uses photovoltaic tiles to provide electric energy.

The nearly zero-energy consumption during the operation phase can minimize the energy consumption and carbon emission arising from air conditioning, heating, and lighting. During the production and construction phase, rustic materials and local constructors are used to reduce carbon emissions arising from transportation and construction. Through these carbon reduction strategies, the annual carbon emission can be reduced by 7.6 tons. The courtyard and building facade integrate advanced green technology, the book room gathers nearly a hundred books on sustainable buildings, and the exhibition hall shows the energy-saving and construction technologies of nearly zero-energy rural houses, making it a showcase and demonstration of the nearly zero energy rural house model.

PLANET —— Reducing ecological impact and realizing carbon-neutral building with net-zero energy consumption. The building keeps the courtyard layout in the local culture and is designed as different green-themed courtyards. The rural ecology and the tall poplars on the north and east sides of the plot are kept, and a ladder-shaped vegetable garden is designed in combination with the existing poplars and the green space at the village entrance. Based on the ecological functions, the three courtyards are defined as different themed courtyards, respectively water courtyard, solar courtyard, and zero-carbon garden decorated with waste. A greenhouse is set in the south courtyard, where a fish and vegetable symbiosis system composed of vertical hydroponic plants is arranged.

The energy system realizes energy balance through the integrated application of active and passive energy-saving technologies. In terms of passive energy-saving, it starts with the utilization of solar radiation and uses a super thermal insulation envelope, air-tightness units, and a thermal-bridge-free design to control the heating demand in winter to below 15W, so that the total energy consumption per unit area is 14.6 kWh/m2.a. In terms of active energy production, it combines photovoltaic tile and colored photovoltaic film to provide power for the building, and uses a solar hot water system to provide hot water for the kitchen and bathroom of the residential part. The total annual energy consumption of the building is 5938.46 kWh, and the annual energy production capacity is 7130.70 kWh so that net-zero energy consumption is achieved.

PLACE —— Rural building integrating red brick local context and regional features. The building uses regional materials and a brick-wood structure system and tries passive house structures with different enclosure systems such as brick-wood system, timber-frame system, and assembled module system. In addition, a red brick exterior wall is used to form a sandwich thermal insulation system, and a sloping roof system with photovoltaic tiles is arranged, so that the facade shows the traditional rural architectural style. Abandoned materials such as removed wooden windows, used bricks, and tiles are designed to artistic devices in the zero-carbon garden. The building makes use of the existing old building. The added parts adopt a timber-frame system with recyclable materials and an assembled module system with recyclable use to achieve minimization and recycling of resource utilization.

From the perspective of the carbon sink, the surrounding area of the original building is full of lush and tall poplars, and modular vegetable boxes filled with soil are set under the poplars and close to the building on the north side. Besides, vertical greening is added to the courtyard, and vertical agriculture with aquaponics is set in the greenhouse. By means of these strategies, carbon sinks are increased.