Advanced Building Envelope Systems for Energy Efficiency: Implications for Architectural Design in Tropical Climates

Building envelope systems determine energy efficiency, environmental impact, and occupant comfort in modern buildings. This systematic review of 101 Scopus-indexed sources (2020–2025) evaluates advanced envelope technologies for tropical climates, with emphasis on developing regions. Buildings consume 30–40% of global energy, with tropical regions exceeding 50% for cooling. This review evaluates performance advantages, implementation challenges, and current trends for advanced envelope technologies including phase change materials (PCM), adaptive facades, smart glazing, building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), and IoT-enabled systems. Results indicate that climate-responsive envelope design, interdisciplinary collaboration, and policy support are essential for sustainable buildings. Tropical office buildings achieve 14.2–31.5% energy savings through PCM and adaptive dynamic facades with IoT monitoring. Developing regions face barriers including high initial costs, limited technical expertise, and inadequate regulatory frameworks.

Building envelope, energy efficiency, adaptive facades, sustainable architecture, tropical climate

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