Towards resilient buildings for the urbanised tropics. Keynote, manuscript

The objective of the keynote is to provide a definition for resilient buildings in the urbanised Tropics and to discuss how the current built environment could be converted into a more resilient environment. A resilient built environment or building in the tropics whether air-conditioned or not does incorporate the low-energy tropicality elements typical for this region. These are low window to wall ratio, use of sufficient shading, suitable low solar heat gain coefficient and a proper selection of materials depending on whether the material is exposed to the sun or not. Energy generating measures to be integrated into facades do provide synergies towards passive design. Applying these measures will strengthen the resilience of tropical buildings and at the same time be conducive to climate change mitigation. Additionally, it may also contribute to a new tropical architecture.