Sustainable building design for tropical climates

Abstract

The “Handbook-Sustainable Building Design for Tropical Climates” considers the impact of the construction sector on climate change, estimating that the building stock that will be built in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2050 will be three times greater than the current overall building stock of Europe. The purpose of the handbook is to offer an easy-to-use tool that provides general guidelines and basic information on the physics of buildings, together with all of the practical tools necessary for designing a sustainable-energy building in a tropical climate. The contents of the handbook were tested and evaluated by means of a series of lectures and training sessions—during the training courses on “Sustainable Integrated Design” held in different East African countries. These courses were attended by professionals (including engineers and architects), entrepreneurs, university teachers and postgraduate students. Further, based on the handbook, two “Massive Online Open Courses” (MOOCs) have been developed for the dissemination of the knowledge among various stakeholders.