← Structure & Physics
Overheating
STRUCTURE & PHYSICSintermediate
Definition
A condition in which a building becomes uncomfortably hot, typically during summer, due to excessive solar gains through glazing, poor ventilation, high internal heat gains, or the urban heat island effect. As climate change intensifies, overheating is becoming a critical design consideration even in temperate climates.
Example
The Heatwave of 2003 in Europe caused 70,000 excess deaths — many in poorly ventilated apartments and care homes that had never been designed for extreme heat, prompting a rethink of overheating risk in temperate-climate buildings.