Green Building as a Mechanism for Climate Change Adaptation

Abstract

Climate change poses significant threats to the built environment, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa where rapid urbanisation intersects with rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, flooding, and energy insecurity. While the building sector is widely recognised for its role in climate change mitigation, its potential contribution to climate change adaptation remains underexplored, especially within developing country contexts like Ghana. This paper examined green building as a mechanism for climate change adaptation by synthesising evidence from existing literature with a contextual focus on Ghana using a systematic review guided by the PRISMA framework. The findings revealed that green building principles such as climate-responsive design improves ventilation and shading whereas the use of locally appropriate materials lower environmental impacts, and decentralised renewable energy systems help buildings remain functional during grid failures. Rainwater harvesting reduces pressure on local supply systems while circular waste practices significantly reduce waste and environmental risks. However, the review also highlighted persistent barriers to adoption in Ghana, including high upfront costs, limited technical capacity, weak enforcement of building regulations, and low stakeholder awareness. Embedding adaptation-oriented green building strategies into national policies, building codes, and financing mechanisms is essential to move from isolated pilot projects to large-scale impact.