Heritage knowledge meets microclimate: CFD–UTCI validation of Eight Mansions orientation in southern Fujian, China

Abstract We test whether orientation rules in the Eight Mansions (Ba Zhai) tradition align with microclimatic comfort in a hot–humid setting. Using CFD coupled with the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), we simulated 24 rotational orientations of a typical ancestral hall in Quanzhou, China, under summer boundary conditions. Orientations aligning the courtyard opening with prevailing south-easterly winds produced lower median UTCI, with inter-orientation differences of ~0.3 °C. Across orientations, mean radiant temperature varied little, whereas airflow differences dominated comfort outcomes. ‘Auspicious’ categories overlapped with the best-performing orientations, and Feng Shui scores correlated with UTCI (ρ = −0.60, p = 0.002) in this case study. The results frame traditional orientation heuristics as testable hypotheses and suggest context-specific pathways for climate-adaptive conservation and design.