Most modern buildings are not designed to cope with increasingly harsh environments brought about by changing climate, a researcher at Heriot-Watt University has said.

Most structures built over the last 40 years were designed with historical climate data in mind. But scientists predict that by the 2030s and 2040s they will need to contend with rising global temperatures, increased rainfall and unpredictable weather patterns.

Susan Roaf, a professor at Heriot-Watt, has called on architects to begin adapting building design for the future realities of a changing climate.

“We are moving into a world that is getting significantly warmer, with extreme weather records being broken year after year,” she said.

“Our workplaces, our public sector care facilities and our own homes must be designed to cope with future conditions, and currently ‘modern’ designs simply are not compatible with this reality. The government’s focus now is on warm homes, but the need for cool homes is growing.

“More intense storms, heatwaves and cold snaps place additional pressure on energy systems. We need to be designing buildings and homes that will remain habitable should these systems fail.”

There are already increasing issues with overheating in buildings that are designed to retain heat, but are forced to contend with warmer climates. Furthermore, with more people now working from home or in hybrid patterns, the cost and usefulness of large glass office building types must be looked at more closely.

“The higher the structures, the higher the energy demands and the vulnerability to over-heating and cooling during power outages when mechanical systems fail,” Roaf said.

“We’ve already seen what happens when buildings cannot function without electricity. Recent winters showed that some rural Scottish communities experienced extended power interruptions, during which lightweight homes cooled more quickly than traditional constructions.”

She warned that the same design logic is also embedded in hospitals, schools and care settings – buildings that often have sealed façades, restricted or non‑existent opening windows and ventilation that can spread pathogens between rooms with recirculating air.

Roaf said: “During Covid-19, studies in Scottish hospitals found that naturally ventilated spaces were associated with lower transmission risk compared with some mechanically ventilated settings.

“In 2020, Lanarkshire acute hospitals introduced an enhanced infection‑prevention package that included greater use of natural ventilation, which was associated with reduced Covid clusters.

“Yet many new hospitals have limited natural ventilation. In a heatwave or power interruption, this can make it harder to manage indoor temperatures and air quality for vulnerable patients.”

Roaf has called for the construction sector to move towards climate-safe, low-impact buildings, such as ‘mixed‑mode’ buildings. These can run on local energy with sun and natural ventilation, shading and energy storage for as much of the year as possible, and only resort to heating and cooling where needed.