Homes under heat stress: A survey on building performance and occupant behavior in a central European context

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

With the increasing frequency and intensity of summer heatwaves due to climate change, understanding how people experience and respond to indoor heat stress is critical – particularly in regions lacking empirical data. In Central and Eastern Europe, especially in Hungary, there is a notable lack of large-scale, country-specific research on how building characteristics and occupant behavior affect summer thermal comfort. This study addresses this gap by analyzing heat perception, adaptive strategies, and satisfaction with indoor conditions across residential buildings. A nationwide Hungarian survey ( n = 1496), representative by age and sex, collected data on demographics, building features, summer heat stress, adaptation behaviors, and awareness of heatwave warnings. The questionnaire focused on thermal satisfaction as the main outcome, aiming to identify its key drivers, while also capturing adaptation behaviors and other related aspects for which limited empirical data are available. Homes were classified using the national building typology system, enabling analysis across 24 archetypes. The analysis combined descriptive statistics, group comparisons, bivariate tests, and regression modeling to identify key influencing factors. Nearly half of respondents reported dissatisfaction with indoor summer temperatures, with the highest dissatisfaction observed in older multi-apartment buildings. The most common personal adaptations include wearing light clothing (95.9%), drinking cold beverages (60.4%), and avoiding direct sunlight (56.8%). Chi-square tests and Cramer's V indicated moderate associations between thermal satisfaction and building typology, insulation, cross-ventilation ability, and adaptation behaviors. To further explore these relationships, regression models were developed with thermal satisfaction as the outcome variable using two approaches: an occupant-based model including demographic and behavioral variables, and a combined model that additionally incorporated building-related characteristics. While the occupant-based model showed limited explanatory power (R 2 = 0.055), the inclusion of building-related variables increased the explained variance (R 2 = 0.291), representing an approximately fivefold increase. Despite high awareness of heatwaves, many relied on only one or two information sources and did not substantially modify their behavior during alerts. Combined with the regression results, this suggests that improving indoor thermal conditions cannot rely on occupant-based responses alone and requires greater emphasis on building-related interventions. The findings also highlight the need for targeted, age-specific communication and building-specific interventions to improve indoor thermal comfort and support effective heat adaptation. This study provides empirical evidence to inform climate-responsive housing and heat adaptation strategies in Central Europe.