Building form considerations are crucial for your design approach to ensure that your project responds to the local context and the logic of the proposed functions, underpinning low-energy design. The building form you design impacts on surroundings in a positive or negative way - and what kind of neighbour your proposal will be should be a key consideration. The goal is to not simply create a compact building form, but to create an appropriate building form for the given climate, context, users and functions.

Building overheating is an increased risk in a changing climate, and is influenced by outdoor environmental conditions, the design of the building, internal production of heat and occupant behaviour. Overheating affects the health and well-being of people, especially older and vulnerable people and can lead to increased injustices and can cause increased mortality. Key strategies to prevent overheating that you should include in your project is to first and foremost ensure all sources of overheating are tackled first and risks minimised. Then provide green, blue and social infrastructure at macro, meso, and micro-scale (building-scale). The design of the building should also include: light coloured surfaces, careful building form, orientation and design of windows, efficient fabric with summer solar shading and appropriate (night) ventilation strategies.

‘Fabric first’ principles are the foundation of zero energy / zero carbon and other low energy / low carbon building designs.