This Special Issue focuses on contributions related to climate resilient buildings, with an emphasis on aspects related to estimating the expected longevity, or loss thereof, of building elements under a changing climate, in consideration of the spatial and temporal variation in climate loads. The long-term performance of building elements, such as wall and roof assemblies, fenestration components and related building products, is directly related to the loads to which these elements are subjected over time. Hence, contributions on the characterisation of both historical, as well as projected loads – i.e., loads that may arise from the effects of climate change – are particularly relevant to this issue. Apart from understanding the temporal variation in performance over time, there is also interest in knowing the spatial differences which show the dissimilarities in expected long-term performance, from one region to another, for a given time period. Such information may be useful to the various building code organisations of different countries, having interest in knowing the expected performance of different building classes in the climate zones, as occur across their territories. Other contributions of interest would include those on monitoring indoor temperature variations during extreme heat events, as are expected to occur from climate change, and the effects on the thermal comfort of occupants; demonstrating the use of standard approaches for estimating the durability and long-term performance of building elements in the context of the effects of climate change; methods for the design of longevity and resilience of building elements on the basis of climate loads; how estimated changes in longevity of building elements, that arise from the effects of climate change, affect the maintenance management of buildings; natural weathering and risk of the premature aging of building products, such as sealants, roofing and sheathing membranes, and the consequences of such degradation actions on the long-term performance of building assemblies.
Keywords: Building elements; Climate change; Climate loads; Climate resilience; Durability; Envelope watertightness; Fenestration component; Long-term performance; Moisture performance; Roof assembly; Wall assembly.