Performance of traditional nomadic yurts for living in extremes

A round felt yurt is a traditional dwelling of Central Asian nomads that have survived over 2000 years. The structure and the use of the yurt have not changed over the centuries, making it a nomadic civilization's masterpiece. It has not lost its relevance even nowadays since many nomadic nations such as Mongolians, Tuvans, Kazakhs are still using it in everyday life. Interestingly, a significant population of nomads lives in Asia's regions with a strongly continental climate with cold winters and hot summers. Winters can be severe, with temperatures dropping below -40 deg. C. Therefore, studying the performance of traditional nomadic yurts can provide insight into designing dwellings for extreme living. A typical yurt has a flexible lattice wall, long ceiling poles, and the crown forming the roof of the structure. The yurt's skeleton is covered with multiple layers of thin materials, including a traditional felt crafted using sheep wool. Felt, having relatively low thermal conductivity, acts as the main insulating material, although it can only be 10 mm thick. Certainly, the insulation layer of the yurt is not sufficient to withstand heat losses in cold weather; therefore, a cast-iron stove in the center of the yurt is the primary heat source that keeps the yurt warm and livable. To detail the yurt's dynamic performance as a function of nomads’ lifestyle, a multidisciplinary study by the team of authors was performed in Tuva, a region in the South of Siberia, in January’2020. Monitoring of the temporal variation of indoor microclimate, outdoor conditions, and thermo-physical characteristics of multiple yurts revealed a strong relationship between indoor environmental parameters such as temperatures, relative humidity, and air speed with daily activities of nomadic occupants.