New Zealand is building more medium density housing than at any time in its history, and much of it is being designed one variable at a time. Thermal performance is modelled to meet the code; daylight is checked against a separate standard; outdoor space is whatever is left between buildings. Each may pass on its own terms while the home fails as a place to live.
Our review in Smart and Sustainable Built Environment examined the research on thermal comfort, daylight comfort and outdoor microclimate in medium density housing, and found that their cyclic interaction is rarely addressed as one problem. A courtyard that shades a terrace in summer may darken the living rooms that face it in winter; closer spacing that saves land changes wind, sun and heat in the shared spaces between homes.
Three findings stood out. Research on the three way relationship is still rare. Daylight is the most neglected of the three, despite its effects on health, energy use and the perceived quality of small homes. And solutions focus too narrowly on building level fixes, such as glazing and insulation, while site planning, courtyards, orientation and urban greening remain underused.
The implication for practice is that the most powerful decisions are made early, at the scale of the block and the site, not late, at the scale of the window. Orientation, spacing, courtyard proportions and planting shape indoor comfort as much as the building fabric does, and they cost little if they are decided before the layout is fixed.
Future proof housing needs integrated, context sensitive design that links indoor and outdoor conditions, bridging building performance, urban form and climate resilience. As summers warm, that integration stops being a refinement and becomes a condition of habitability.
The work behind it
Pourel, D., Ghaffarianhoseini, AH., GhaffarianHoseini, A., and Naismith, N. (2026). Integrated considerations of thermal comfort, daylight comfort and outdoor microclimate in medium density housing (MDH) development. Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, 15(4), 1565 to 1589.