The EU has set out the ambitious target of a climate-neutral Europe by 2050. Key to this strategy is the complex of measures aimed at improving the energy performance of buildings, which are a major factor impacting their energy demand. Among those measures, high levels of insulation and high levels of airtightness are major strategies to achieve low-energy buildings.

The overarching aim of ADAPTIVE HOUSING is to improve the design of low-energy housing to sustainably cope with the overheating associated with ongoing climate change, in particular, to predicted increase in temperature, by thus refraining from exposing occupants to heat stress and/or from increasing the carbon emissions associated with a greater energy demand for cooling.

OBJECTIVES:

ADAPTIVE HOUSING will investigate the role of adaptive behaviour in the process of securing comfort in low-energy homes in the context of a global increase in temperatures. Its main objectives consist of (a) assessing the potential impact of overheating in low-energy housing and (b) developing guidelines for the design and operation of adaptive and resilient low-energy housing.

STRATEGY:

Embracing uncertainty and a non-deterministic approach to research, ADAPTIVE HOUSING will develop a knowledge map integrating emerging literature on adaptive occupant behaviour and interaction between occupants and building systems with emerging knowledge on climate change's impact on buildings. This will create the framework to test a case study on current and future performance.

IMPACT:

This project will improve designers' ability to tackle requirements of energy efficiency while securing healthy and comfortable homes, both in the present climate and in future climate change. By so, this project acts as a specific contribution towards the integration of the principle of climate resilience of buildings into the implementation of EU Green Deal initiatives such as the New European Bauhaus and the Climate Adaptation Strategy and to the overall just transition towards carbon neutrality.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​This fellowship is financed by the Autonomous Province of Bolzano-Bozen through the Seal of Excellence funding scheme (Decree 13190/2022).