The subject of reducing energy use and driving down emissions - the mitigation of climate change - has been covered in great detail in recent years. However, the measures needed to reduce our vulnerability of buildings to changing climates - climate change adaptation - have been less thoroughly explored.

Here you can download a report by architect Bill Gething titled Design for Future Climate: opportunities for adaptation in the built environment published on 9^th June 2010 by the Technology Strategy Board. The report presents the key design challenges for adapting to the future climate, and explores how to interpret the scientific climate data for building design projects.

The report addresses issues around thermal comfort, flood risk management and the treatment of water as well as issues of structural and construction design. Later sections provide edited data from the UK Climate projections to enable you to quickly assess the likely major risks for buildings in your location of interest.

The one-page summary tables for separate download, should be most useful for you as a reference on the main design challenges facing the buildings industry to adapt buildings to the future climate.

We hope that this report will stimulate discussion on how we adapt buildings and that you will find it a useful resource in framing the agenda for adaptation in future years.

This report informed the need for funding on climate change adaptation and triggered the £5m Design for Future Climate: Adapting Buildings competition which funded the development of adaptation strategies for 26 building projects in 2010 and will run again in summer 2011.