A new approach was developed that uses regional climate data to inform building-scale simulation models. The aim is a more accurate and high-resolution estimate of how strong winds and heavy rain affect buildings, in order to assess and predict the risk of unexpected structural loads or functional damage. While the methodology is designed to be broadly applicable, it was tested using the Trieste Public Hospital as a case study, an area especially exposed to strong local winds.
This work highlights the wider importance of the results for infrastructure safety and resilience. For full technical details, the corresponding project deliverables can be consulted. Here, the focus is on the relevance of the findings for the public and key stakeholders, and on their potential contribution to major international and European policy frameworks, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the European Green Deal and the Paris Agreement.
Accurately estimating the impact of wind on buildings is technically challenging and usually requires specialised, complex analysis. At the same time, the integration of climate change data into these assessments remains a relatively underexplored area in research and practice. This work contributes practical knowledge that can support climate-risk assessment for buildings and critical infrastructure, helping to strengthen the evidence base behind current and future regulations.
What was done?
A general methodology was developed and applied to estimate the atmospheric loads on tall buildings during extreme weather events, which are expected to become more frequent and intense due to climate change.
The study also demonstrates how RISKADAPT can support the implementation of key international and European policies, including the European Green Deal, the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. By translating scientific results into practical, operational tools, RISKADAPT helps bridge the gap between research and policy, enabling more resilient, efficient and future-oriented infrastructure decisions.
These outcomes are especially relevant for regulatory authorities, public bodies and infrastructure stakeholders, supporting the integration of climate resilience into planning, design and policy-making across Europe and beyond.
Methods and approaches
The study is carried out through a chain of multiscale numerical simulations, which are strategically linked together to transport and convey information from the climatic time-spatial scales, the meteorological mesoscale and the very small, local, building scale in the final result. To this scope, a downscaling methodology has been adopted and applied for a detailed numerical study of the Cattinara Hospital, which was selected as representative of a tall building in Europe exposed to strong wind, i.e. the Bora wind, due to the peculiar local meteorology.
Main results
An extensive parametric study has been performed running several very-high resolved numerical simulations of the Cattinara Hospital case study by estimating the pressure load at the building facades under different wind intensities (from weak to exceptionally strong) and the results have been synthetised in a set of functions estimating the atmospheric building load knowing the averaged mean wind velocity impacting on the structure. Key results of the first half of the projects are linked with three main legislative actions at european and international level: Paris Agreement, composed by 26 Articles, SDG composed of 17 items, European Green Deal declined in more than 4 additional specific laws.
How results adress the need
The proposed methodology enables the derivation of a semi-empirical function for an easy, fast and direct estimation of the atmospheric load on tall buildings. Project results are linked to actual international policies in a pointwise and detailed way.
Innovation compared to practice
The methodology developed and applied is a general and operational strategy that can be repeated and adapted to a wide variety of case studies, therefore representing a general result of applicative interest for infrastructure builders and for different types of technical and non-technical stakeholders. Currently, no widely established method exists for performing this type of estimations, making this a significant advancement.
Conclusions & Next steps
The work has important scientific and technical value, while also strengthening the link between climate research and international policy frameworks. It shows that dedicated, high-quality studies can help predict and reduce the risks posed by extreme weather events, even in complex and demanding environments. The downscaling methodology will be refined, including improvements to additional atmospheric features such as thermal effects. Discussions with local experts will be initiated to evaluate the practical effectiveness of project outputs for stakeholders.