Designing for Resilience, Passive Survivability: Strategies in Mild and Hot Climates to Prevent Overheating

As heat waves intensify and infrastructure becomes more fragile, buildings must be capable of protecting occupants even when the grid goes dark. This presentation introduces passive survivability as a framework for resilience, showing how design decisions, from shading and glazing to ventilation paths and material choices, can prevent dangerous indoor heat buildup. Through climate context, risk scenarios, and practical examples, the talk reveals how resilient design transforms buildings into safe havens during extreme events.