THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON ARCHITECTURE

Obi Hendrix¹ & Ferdinand F.O. Daminabo²

Department of Architecture,

Rivers State University Nkpolu Oroworukwo, Port -HarcourtE-mail: obihendrix@yahoo.com, ferdydaminabo@yahoo.com

Abstract

Climatic change an extreme global malaise and intractable phenomenon has great impact on buildings and the built environment thus must attract the significance attention from the design and construction experts. Building designs rely on climatic data and other geographic indices, however the unprecedented effects of global warming have dwarfed in significance most historic climatic data which can no longer accurately represent future conditions over the life of a building. In this paper, the investigations of the effect of climate change to the design and safety of high-rise building will be in sharp focus. Climatic factors such as temperature, rainfall, humidity, among others will be examined with regards to their effects on high-rise buildings. It is also concluded that the climatic data used in the designs of building should urgently be reviewed as it may be leading designers to adopt solutions which will be inappropriate for future uses and infrastructural developments within the built environment.

Keywords:         Climate Change, Greenhouse Gas Emission. High-rise Buildings, Temperature, Rainfall, Humidity, Architecture.