Integrating The IPCC- Sendai framework for Climate Resilient Academic Infrastructure: A case study of NUST Institute of Civil Engineering

Abstract

Climate change is increasingly undermining the performance assumptions of existing building infrastructure, particularly in developing countries where rapid urbanization, limited adaptive capacity, and aging building stocks heighten exposure to climate-induced hazards. This study presents a building-scale climate resilience assessment of the NUST Institute of Civil Engineering (NICE), Islamabad, by operationalizing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Climate-Resilient Development (CRD) framework in conjunction with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR). A semi-quantitative, indicator-based methodology is applied, integrating observed and reanalysis climate data from the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), ERA5, and NASA POWER datasets with planning-, design-, operation-, and maintenance-level building indicators. A composite Climate Risk Index (CRI) is developed using normalized scoring and weighted aggregation, and robustness is examined through sensitivity analysis. Results indicate that heat stress represents the dominant climate risk pathway for the NICE building, driven by limited passive cooling capacity and high internal heat gains, while extreme rainfall and drainage-related risks remain moderate but increasing. The study identifies feasible, evidence-based adaptation measures and provides a transferable framework for institutional buildings in climate-vulnerable regions.