/climate-responsive-design

name: climate-responsive-design
description: >-
  Apply climate-specific urban design strategies for hot-arid, tropical,
  temperate, and cold climates. Covers building orientation, street alignment,
  shading strategies, wind management, vegetation selection, urban heat island
  mitigation, stormwater management, and thermal comfort in outdoor spaces. Use
  when the user specifies a climate zone, asks about climate-responsive design,
  needs orientation advice, asks about heat island mitigation, discusses thermal
  comfort, or designs for extreme weather conditions. Also use for
  microclimate analysis, wind corridor design, or solar access optimization.

Climate-Responsive Urban Design Skill

This skill provides a systematic framework for designing urban environments that respond to local climate conditions. It draws on bioclimatic design principles, the Koppen-Geiger climate classification, thermal comfort research (UTCI, PET), urban heat island science, and green infrastructure best practices from cities worldwide. The goal is to ensure that every urban design decision -- from street orientation to material selection -- is informed by the specific climate context of the project.

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1. Climate Zone Classifier

Use the following decision tree to identify the relevant climate zone for any project location. This simplified classification maps the Koppen-Geiger system to four design-relevant climate archetypes.

Decision Tree

START: What is the average temperature of the hottest month?

  > 30 C --> What is the annual rainfall?
  |            |
  |            +--> < 250 mm --> HOT-ARID (BWh/BSh)
  |            +--> 250-500 mm --> HOT-ARID (BSh) with seasonal rain
  |            +--> > 500 mm --> What is the average humidity?
  |                               |
  |                               +--> RH > 70% --> TROPICAL (Af/Am/Aw)
  |                               +--> RH < 70% --> HOT-ARID (semi-arid transition)
  |
  25-30 C --> What is the average temperature of the coldest month?
  |            |
  |            +--> > 18 C --> TROPICAL (Af/Am/Aw)
  |            +--> 0-18 C --> What is the annual rainfall?
  |            |                |
  |            |                +--> Dry summers (Csa/Csb) --> TEMPERATE (Mediterranean)
  |            |                +--> Uniform/wet summers --> TEMPERATE (Cfa/Cfb)
  |            |
  |            +--> < 0 C --> COLD (Dfb/Dfc)
  |
  < 25 C --> What is the coldest month average?
               |
               +--> > 0 C --> TEMPERATE (Cfb/Cfc)
               +--> -3 to 0 C --> TEMPERATE (cold variant, Dfb transition)
               +--> < -3 C --> COLD (Dfb/Dfc/ET)

Climate Zone Profiles

**HOT-ARID (BWh / BSh)**

• Temperature: >35 C summer peaks, 15-25 C winter, extreme diurnal range (15-20 C)
• Precipitation: <100-250 mm annually, concentrated in brief storms
• Solar radiation: very high (>2500 kWh/m2/year direct normal irradiance)
• Humidity: low (<30% RH typical), except coastal desert
• Wind: hot dry winds (khamsin, shamal), dust storms
• Design priority: SHADE and COOLING, manage solar gain, conserve water
• Reference cities: Dubai, Riyadh, Phoenix, Marrakech, Cairo, Doha, Karachi, Lima (coastal desert)

**TROPICAL (Af / Am / Aw)**

• Temperature: 25-35 C year-round, minimal seasonal variation (<5 C)
• Precipitation: >1500 mm annually, intense monsoon or convective storms
• Solar radiation: high but diffuse due to cloud cover
• Humidity: very high (>70% RH), oppressive heat index
• Wind: trade winds, monsoon shifts, sea breezes in coastal areas
• Design priority: VENTILATION and RAIN MANAGEMENT, maximize air movement, manage flooding
• Reference cities: Singapore, Mumbai, Lagos, Ho Chi Minh City, Rio de Janeiro, Jakarta, Nairobi, Manila

**TEMPERATE (Cfa / Cfb / Csa / Csb)**

• Temperature: 0-30 C range, distinct four seasons
• Precipitation: 500-1500 mm distributed across seasons (or dry summer for Mediterranean)
• Solar radiation: moderate, highly seasonal (2x difference between winter and summer)
• Humidity: moderate, variable by season
• Wind: variable, frontal systems, occasional severe storms
• Design priority: SEASONAL BALANCE, optimize for both heating and cooling, solar access in winter, shading in summer
• Reference cities: London, Paris, Sydney, New York, Tokyo, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Istanbul, Rome, San Francisco

**COLD (Dfb / Dfc / ET)**

• Temperature: <0 C for 3-6 months, brief summers reaching 20-25 C
• Precipitation: 400-1000 mm, significant as snow
• Solar radiation: low in winter (4-6 hours daylight at winter solstice at 60N)
• Humidity: low in winter (cold air holds little moisture), moderate summer
• Wind: biting cold winds, wind chill dominant comfort factor in winter
• Design priority: SOLAR ACCESS and WIND PROTECTION, maximize winter sun, shelter from cold wind, manage snow
• Reference cities: Stockholm, Moscow, Helsinki, Montreal, Sapporo, Reykjavik, Minneapolis, Oslo, Anchorage

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2. Strategy Matrix by Climate Zone

The following matrix provides specific design values for each strategy across the four climate zones. Use this as a rapid-reference lookup for any design decision.

Street Orientation

| Strategy | Hot-Arid | Tropical | Temperate | Cold | |---|---|---|---|---| | Primary street axis | E-W (narrow canyon) | N-S or NE-SW (capture breeze) | E-W (maximize south facade solar) | E-W (maximize south facade solar) | | Secondary street axis | N-S (minimize west exposure) | E-W (cross-ventilation) | N-S (variety and ventilation) | N-S (minimize wind tunnels) | | Diagonal streets | Avoid (increases sun exposure) | 45 degrees to wind (optimal ventilation) | Acceptable with shading | Avoid (creates wind acceleration) |

Street Height-to-Width (H:W) Ratio

| Strategy | Hot-Arid | Tropical | Temperate | Cold | |---|---|---|---|---| | E-W streets | 2:1 to 4:1 (deep shade) | 0.5:1 to 1:1 (air flow) | 1:1 to 1.5:1 (balanced) | 0.5:1 to 1:1 (solar access) | | N-S streets | 1: