It was 117 degrees Fahrenheit (47 degrees Celsius) in Tunisia in July, but our colleague Manel Ben Khelifa couldn't turn on the air conditioner “because the power grid was down,” she explained.
Ben Khelifa told us during the July 2024 heat wave: “Power companies tried to save energy during peak demand periods by doubling electricity prices to discourage people from using air conditioners, but that didn't work.”
“It's so hot that people would rather turn off anything but the air conditioner,” she said. “Then the power company shut off the power. That's fine for a young guy like me, but for my kids and my father, who has health issues, it's inhumane. That wasn't the case when I was a kid. The weather is getting hotter.
Extreme heat in many places is becoming more severe as the planet warms due to our reliance on fossil fuels. We can't just rely on air conditioning to solve this problem, because about 7% of global heat-trapping pollution emissions come from burning fossil fuels to generate heat and cooling in buildings. Without serious course correction, this percentage will only grow, especially in rapidly urbanizing developing countries.
Poorly designed buildings can make the problem worse
Over the past five years, more than 80% of building growth and related energy demand has occurred in emerging economies with limited or no requirements for building energy performance.
In 2022 alone, more than 2.4 billion square meters of new construction, the majority of which will be new homes, will be built without any energy, thermal or elastic performance requirements. This is equivalent to the entire building stock added to Spain in one year.
This creates a vicious cycle: poorly designed buildings produce more climate-warming gases, exacerbating climate extremes and further threatening people living in poor housing.
For example, in the Indonesian city of Samarinda, research found that most household energy use was for freezing. However, poor design means that average indoor temperature and humidity remain about the same as outdoor conditions – above 27°C (80°F) and 70% humidity – even if the thermostat is set to 20°C. A lack of shading and natural ventilation, combined with poor insulation, means buildings heat up quickly while cold air leaks out.
But simple, cost-effective design elements like proper insulation, shading and ventilation can ensure safe indoor temperatures—as long as the public and political will help people get these solutions.
A deadly cycle – rapid urbanization and worsening climate conditions
In India, an air conditioner in an apartment in Gurgaon, New Delhi, recently caught fire. This is not the first time this has happened during the summer. Aafsha Kansal, project coordinator for the Global Building Performance Network, who lives in the building opposite, said overuse may be the cause. In this regard, the Housing Society requires residents to place air conditioners in a cool place.
As a result, Kansal can no longer use the outdoor equipment in her home office because it is exposed to the sun, and she will now have to work from her dining room table until the end of the summer.
A resident of an apartment near Kansal said her home became too hot to sit in.
The woman, who asked not to be named, said: “We would pour water on the floor every day to cool it down and then sit outside late at night fanning ourselves with newspapers while we waited for the floor to cool down.”
“One day I went in to see if it was cool enough and I was surprised to find a snake coiled on the floor. We tried to get it out but it just got itself entangled. When we took it out to sleep it was already early in the morning It's 3 o'clock.
Smart Strategies for Renovating Buildings
In March 2024, at the first Global Summit on Building and Climate, 70 countries committed to ensuring that near-zero emissions and resilient buildings become the new normal by 2030. People working on urban development, housing, energy, industry and health follow the pledge.
Better building codes and effective support policies can also help. Such codes can set design and construction standards to protect people from future climate conditions.
Although 81 countries have residential building codes and 77 countries have non-residential building codes, 30% of these codes have not been updated since 2015 and are not designed for rapidly changing climate conditions.
Coverage is particularly poor in areas with hot climates. Africa, for example, is the continent most vulnerable to climate impacts, but it is far from ready. The population is expected to double by 2050, but more than 70% of the required building stock has yet to be built. But in the past decade, only five of 54 African countries have updated their building regulations.
The third critical step is stakeholder involvement. Global best practices in climate-smart buildings can be learned, but policies must be adapted to local circumstances and climate. Working with local policymakers, residents, builders and experts can help policymakers understand a community’s needs, potential challenges and available resources.
Private sector involvement is also important. In India, design charrettes provide focused collaboration between architects, developers and communities to solve design challenges. These expert workshops guide builders in designing cost-effective and implementable climate-responsive affordable housing projects that provide adequate thermal, visual and physical comfort to occupants.
This private sector collaboration has led to the development of affordable housing guidelines, which are currently being discussed by the Bureau of Indian Standards, one of the committees responsible for revising the National Building Code and low-income housing standards in urban areas of India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has committed to building 30 million new affordable homes by 2030, so ensuring these homes are designed and built to adapt to the future climate will improve the lives of millions of people over decades.
Bottom line: Low-carbon, healthy buildings will protect human life in a changing climate and Stopping may result in emissions that are inappropriate for the temperature.
Peter Graham is CEO and Executive Director of the Global Building Performance Network GBPN. Mili Majumdar is senior vice president of innovation and research at the U.S. Green Building Council in New Delhi, India.
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