Impacts of heat on human well-being: Creating restorative indoor and outdoor thermal environments in a changing climate

Exposure to excessive heat can be a major threat to human health. Accelerating climate change will further increase the risks of heat-related mortality and morbidity. Increasing temperatures will mostly affect urban areas because of the combined effects of high population density, higher built density, and the corresponding lack of green spaces. Globally, the worst impacts will be concentrated in hot, humid regions, but temperate regions also face the challenge of adaptation - with building stocks and societies little prepared for pronounced heat events that already increase morbidity and mortality. This chapter will discuss the effects of heat on health and well-being, the concepts of thermal comfort and heat stress, and how they relate to recovery. We ask how indoor and outdoor environments can be (re)designed to reduce negative effects of heat, offer opportunities for recovery, and ideally also mitigate climate change and civilisation diseases. Examples from recent surveys among office workers and nursing staff in temperate Germany shed light on aspects of heat stress and recovery in workplaces. The chapter includes recommendations for adapting to heat on different levels, such as city planning, building and landscape design, as well as organisation and daily routines.