This study investigates the effects of climate change on streamflow in the Ayazma river basin located in the Marmara region of Turkey using a hydrological model. Regional Climate Model (RCM) outputs from CNRM-CM5/RCA4, EC-EARTH/RACMO22E and NorESM1-M/HIRHAM5 with the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 emission scenarios were utilized to drive the HBV-Light (Hydrologiska Byråns Vattenbalansavdelning) hydrological model. A trend analysis was performed with the Mann–Kendall trend test for precipitation and temperature projections. A meteorological drought assessment was presented using the Standardized Precipitation–Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) method for the worst-case scenario (i.e., RCP8.5). The calibrated and validated hydrological model was used for streamflow simulations in the basin for the period 2022–2100. The selected climate models were found to produce high precipitation projections with positive anomalies ranging from 22 to 227 mm. The increase in annual mean temperatures reached up to 1.8 °C and 2.6 °C for the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios, respectively. The trend results showed statistically insignificant upward and downward trends in precipitation and statistically significant upward trends in temperatures at 5% significance level for both RCP scenarios. It was shown that there is a significant increase in drought intensities and durations for SPEI greater than 6 months after mid- century. Streamflow simulations showed decreasing trends for both RCP scenarios due to upward trend in temperature and, hence, evapotranspiration. Streamflow peaks obtained with the RCP8.5 scenario were generally lower than those obtained with the RCP4.5 scenario. The mean values of the streamflow simulations from the CNRM-CM5/RCA4 and NorESM1-M/HIRHAM5 outputs were approximately 2 to 10% lower than the observation mean. On the other hand, the average value obtained from the EC-EARTH/RACMO 22E outputs was significantly higher than the observation average, up to 32%. The results of this study can be useful for evaluating the impact of climate change on streamflow and developing sustainable climate adaptation options in the Ayazma river basin.

This study evaluates the passive thermal resilience of two full-scale residential buildings during natural summer heatwaves and blackout-like conditions in a temperate European climate. The buildings share identical geometry and ventilation but differ in envelope mass and ground coupling. Building B1 is a masonry structure with a slab-on-ground floor, while B2 is a lightweight timber-frame house. In 2019, B1 underwent a retrofit in which floor insulation was removed to enable direct subsoil heat exchange. Three complementary frameworks were applied: model IOD, AWD, OEF, the indicators AF and αIOD, and the health-based scenario rating HE, HIHH, and WBGT. Across all metrics, B1 demonstrated superior resilience, with overheating fully eliminated after ground coupling was introduced. B2, in contrast, remained vulnerable under both moderate and extreme events. The findings highlight the critical role of thermal mass and soil buffering in maintaining safe indoor conditions without active systems. Under certain circumstances, omitting under-slab insulation can improve summer resilience without significantly compromising winter performance. A companion life-cycle analysis confirms lower cumulative carbon emissions for B1 under all SSP scenarios to 2100. Passive ground coupling thus emerges as a low-cost, maintenance-free adaptation strategy with co-benefits for mitigation and occupant safety.

Thermal resilience is critical for building safety in cold climates during heating outages. This study presents full-scale experimental data from two residential buildings in Poland, tested during the winter of 2024–2025 under both typical and extreme outdoor conditions. The buildings—a lightweight timber-frame structure and a mediumweight masonry structure with ground coupling—were exposed to multi-day heating blackouts, and their thermal responses were monitored at a high temporal resolution. Several resilience indicators were used, including the resistance time (RT), degree of disruption (DoD), and hours of safety threshold (HST). Additionally, two time-based metrics—the time to threshold (T_x) and temperature at X-hours (T(t_x))—were introduced to improve classification in long-duration scenarios. The weighted unmet thermal performance (WUMTP) index was also implemented and validated using experimental data. The results show that thermal mass and ground coupling significantly improved passive resilience, enabling the mediumweight building to maintain temperatures above 15 °C for over 60 h without heating. This study provides new empirical evidence of passive survivability in blackout conditions and supports the development of time-sensitive assessment tools for cold climates. The findings may inform future updates to building codes and retrofit guidelines.

In this, paper the authors propose a new simplified method of solving the problem of air flow through a solar chimney system using a classical system of equations for the principles of conservation (momentum, mass, and energy), as well as a general solution to research the problem using similarity theory. The method presented in this paper allows one to design a solar chimney. The theoretical analysis was compared with experimental studies on existing solar towers. The experimental and theoretical studies were satisfactorily consistent. For clarity, the phenomenon of heat flow in the solar chimney was described using dimensionless numbers, such as the Reynolds, Grashof, Galileo, Biot, and Prandtl numbers. In the equations for the dimensionless geometric parameters, the ratios of the collector radius to the thickness gap, height, and chimney radius were used. The method used to test the system of equations allows us to analyse various solar collectors easily. In the scientific literature, there is a lack of a simple calculation method to use in engineering practice, suitable for each type of solar chimney independent of dimensions and construction parameters.