Climate Adaptability of Building Passive Strategies to Changing Future Urban Climate: A Review

Abstract

Buildings contribute about one-third of global CO2 emissions, yet the adaptability of building passive energy-saving strategies to the impacts of both global climate change (GCC) and urban heat island (UHI) remains understudied. We find that
55% of existing research focused on residential buildings and
70% on developed nations, indicating geographical and typological skew and potential gaps in related research for more diverse urban environments, especially for the Global South. While existing studies have shown GCC will change building thermal demands across climate zones, the coupled effects of GCC and UHI on building energy performance need to be further understood. The performance of passive architectural design strategies (building shape, floor plan, etc.) and emerging materials (thermochromic and phase-change materials, etc.) in future urban climate remain understudied. Future research priorities include developing integrated climate models to capture coupled GCC-UHI effects, optimizing passive design for future urban climate scenarios, and evaluating passive measures' feedback to urban climate in various urban contexts. Efforts are needed to establish evaluation methods for future urban climate, develop climate-specific design guidelines, and create climate-adaptive building standards that evolve with climate projections.

Article Content