In this paper, a climate-adaptation study of vernacular houses in northern Hebei Province has been conducted based on quantitative field surveys. Three typical vernacular houses with different kinds of building envelopes were selected. The field surveys included investigation on building material and construction, measurement of indoor thermal environment, infrared thermographic study of building envelopes and measurement of luminous environment. The results showed that the indoor air temperatures were below thermal comfort zone from late night till early morning and the horizontal temperature gradient was obvious. The adobe wall showed better thermal performance than the other two. As for the building layout, it is beneficial to put a storeroom on the north side of the house as a temperature buffer zone. Furthermore, due to missing insulation and the informal process of construction, significant amounts of heat escaped from building envelopes, especially from the corner of wall, ceiling and around the openings. The daylight factors on the work plan in the main rooms were accordance with design standards and the level of illuminance met the requirements of family’ s daily activities.