Resilient Architectural Design: considerations in the design of airports to withstand climate change effects

Airports ask for environmental, social and economic sustainability instances as the core of the project development. The project design must focus on the role of sustainability taking into account new performance’s classes to face higher levels of building resilience to the changing climate effects. Airports need to adopt long-term strategic approach to address the need of adaptation to the climate change and mitigation of impacts on the environment. This will require new designs and materials for future airport infrastructure and retrofitting of the existing ones. The paper reports ongoing research analysis of a broad study focused on the evaluation of the project compliance with the green building requirements and the definition of technological strategies for climate change adaptation. The correct identification and evaluation of climate sensitivities enable to prioritize adaptive responses. It also creates new opportunities for airport authorities and operators to anticipate the consequences of project changing conditions during operation using sustainable strategies to enhance building resilience. European and international airports examples and case studies are presented in this paper in order to illustrate the good practices and methods already adopted for assessing and minimising the risk of climate change and to formulate a proposal for the design of airports for the future.