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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Kumar Biswajit DebnathORCiD, Natalia PynirtziORCiD, Dr Jane ScottORCiD, Dr Colin DavieORCiD, Professor Ben BridgensORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Globally, cities are grappling with intensifying heat stress and rising cooling energy demand, with the impacts disproportionately falling on populations in the Global South, where access to adaptive technologies remains limited. We present ‘Relative Humidity–Temperature Profiling (RHpT)’ , a scalable climatic screening framework that identifies windows of opportunity in which humidity-responsive materials can enable passive, sensor-free building adaptation. Using two climatically distinct cities (New Delhi and Newcastle upon Tyne), we show that RHpT can identify seasonal and diurnal conditions suitable for actuation, and that these are validated through laboratory characterisation of larch veneers and dynamic building simulations. In non-optimised retrofit scenarios, RHpT-guided façades reduced cooling demand by up to 10%. More broadly, RHpT offers a transferable method for cities to assess the feasibility of bio-based adaptive envelopes, connecting climate logic to material thresholds and energy outcomes. This approach demonstrates how bio-responsive, low-cost design strategies can contribute to just and low-carbon urban resilience.
Author(s): Debnath KB, Pynirtzi N, Scott J, Davie C, Bridgens B
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Energy & Buildings
Year: 2026
Volume: 358
Print publication date: 02/02/2026
Online publication date: 19/02/2026
Acceptance date: 18/02/2026
Date deposited: 26/02/2026
ISSN (print): 0378-7788
ISSN (electronic): 1872-6178
Publisher: Elsevier
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117192
DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117192
Data Access Statement: The authors do not have permission to share data.
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