Climate-responsive envelope design for educational buildings: A comparative simulation study between the UK and Egypt

Abstract

• This study compares higher-education building performance in London and Cairo. • Dynamic IES-VE modelling was verified using monitored indoor conditions. • In London, TM52 non-compliance is driven by high daily overheating severity. • In Cairo, summer conditions show extreme indoor overheating up to 38–39°C. • The findings support mixed-mode cooling and CO 2 -based ventilation control. Educational buildings increasingly face climate-driven overheating and shifting energy demand, yet transnational campuses often replicate “home-campus” typologies without climate adaptation. This study evaluates climate-responsive envelope and HVAC strategies for a higher-education studio floor in London and office spaces in Cairo using calibrated dynamic simulations supported by in-situ monitoring with 10-minutes interval temperature and CO 2 in London, short-term temperature and relative humidity in Cairo. Three scenarios were tested as follow. S01 natural ventilation; S02 mixed-mode/HVAC with existing envelope; and S03 mixed-mode/HVAC with enhanced envelope. Performance was assessed against BB101 and CIBSE TM52 overheating metrics, ISO 7730 PMV/PPD comfort indices, and CO 2 thresholds. In London, S01 experienced recurrent overheating, peaks between 30 and 31°C and TM52 failure driven by short high-severity events with Criterion 2: 8–17 degree-hours, while CO 2 remained close to the 1000 ppm target, approximately between 1040–1050 ppm excursions. Future 2050 weather reduced annual heating from 832 to 667 kWh/m 2 ·yr and introduced cooling of 3 kWh/m 2 ·yr; 0.5% of annual thermal energy, but present in all months and peaking at 0.59 kWh/m 2 in July, yielding a 19.5% net site-energy reduction. London therefore remains heating-dominant in 2050 but with emerging peak cooling and overheating risk. In Cairo, baseline summer indoor temperatures reached 33–36°C with PPD commonly 90–100% and CO 2 peaks 1400–1500 ppm; 2050 projections extend higher than 30°C season and increase extreme events higher than 40°C, indicating intensified and prolonged cooling demand.