Passive cooling is a building design approach that focuses on heat gain control and heat dissipation in a building in order to improve the indoor thermal comfort with low or no energy consumption. This approach works either by preventing heat from entering the interior or by removing heat from the building.
A courtyard in Florence, Italy. It is tall and narrow, with a fountain spouting very thin streams of water at the bottom, and upper rooms opening onto it. Night flushing of the courtyard happens automatically as the night air cools; evaporative cooling cools it further and can be used to create drafts and change the air during the day. Windows can be left open around the clock.
A salasabil (currently dry) in the Red Fort in Delhi, India. A salasabil is designed to maximize evaporative cooling; the cooling, in turn, may be used to drive air circulation.
Climate change adaptation
Climate change adaptation is the process of adjusting to the effects of climate change. These can be both current or expected impacts. Adaptation aims to moderate or avoid harm for people, and is usually done alongside climate change mitigation. It also aims to exploit opportunities. Humans may also intervene to help adjustment for natural systems. There are many adaptation strategies or options. They can help manage impacts and risks to people and nature. The four types of adaptation actions are infrastructural, institutional, behavioural and nature-based options.
Wetland restoration in Australia
Checking contours in Monterey County strawberry fields, United States
Terraces, conservation tillage and conservation buffers save soil and improve water quality on this farm in Woodbury County in northwest Iowa, United States.
Launching the Coastal City Adaptation Project in Quelimane, Mozambique