Hot weather buildings

[nancylebov]

ozarque and bradhicks have both written about buildings that handle hot weather better than most of what we've got. They both cover similar ground, but the former includes the importance of a culture where it's legal and safe for everyone to sleep out of doors in the summer and the comments to the latter have a discussion of hot weather and tall buildings that I haven't seen elsewhere.

Without getting into the question of how blame should be allocated between buyers, developers, and building codes (unless you really, really want to), what can/should be done to improve the existing building stock? Or the beliefs, behaviors, and laws which make it not feasible for people to sleep out of doors in cities?

One side note: Trees are lovely, and big trees shading a house are lovelier, but trees near a house in wildfire country are *not* a good idea.