Depending on the region and future scenarios, temperatures in Switzerland will rise by between 3.2 °C and 4.8 °C by the end of this century. As a study by the Institute of Building Technology and Energy (IGE) at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts has shown, building design must adapt to the changes in climate. The researchers examined four real buildings: two new and two old in Lugano and Basel.
Depending on the region, the reference buildings were projected to have between 900 and 1,400 hours of overheating for the year 2068. A building is considered to be overheating if the inside temperature is more than 26.5 °C. “At these temperatures, most people no longer feel comfortable in artificially ventilated spaces,” explained the Head of the Research Group, Gianrico Settembrini, in a press release.
Architecture is now facing a paradigm shift. “Protection against the cold continues to be important, but our data shows that the heating requirement will decline by between 20 per cent and 30 per cent in future,” comments Settembrini. Conversely, there will be a greater need for air conditioning, which this will place an additional burden on the environment, so new innovative cooling techniques are required.
“With optimal sun protection and sufficient nocturnal cooling, comfortable inside temperature can be achieved without air conditioning,” says Settembrini. One option is planning the windows effectively, with window façades being especially important. They must be designed in such a way as to allow the winter sun into the building, while shielding against the full power of the summer sun. Another method is geocooling, whereby heat is transferred to the earth by a pump in the summer months, but then used to heat the building in winter.
