Passive Cooling Strategies for Traditional and Contemporary Buildings in Hot-Arid Climates: A PRISMA-Informed Systematic Mapping Review and Energy-Efficiency Decision Matrix

Rising cooling demand in hot-arid climates requires passive, low-energy building strategies that can be compared across heterogeneous evidence. This study develops a PRISMA-informed systematic mapping review and an evidence-based energy-efficiency decision matrix for building-scale passive cooling strategies in hot-arid climates, while comparing evidence from both traditional and contemporary building contexts. Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection were searched for English-language journal articles and reviews published between 2010 and 2026. Rather than conducting statistical meta-analysis, the review uses qualitative and evidence-based synthesis to map, classify, and interpret heterogeneous performance evidence. After duplicate removal, 844 records were screened. A completed prioritized full-text synthesis assessed 92 reports and produced a core analytical evidence base of 78 studies, supported by 11 borderline or contextual studies, giving 89 mapped studies. The studies were coded by strategy cluster, climatic context, building typology, evidence type, performance metric, energy relevance, water dependency, implementation complexity, maintenance sensitivity, and evidence strength. Seven strategy clusters were identified: evaporative/windcatcher/solar-chimney systems; envelope/façade/shading strategies; courtyard/microclimate strategies; roof-based cooling; earth-to-air or ground-coupled cooling; natural ventilation/night flushing; and integrated passive cooling packages. The results show that passive cooling decisions require more than a thermal performance comparison. The proposed matrix distinguishes performance potential from implementation suitability and provides a structured design-support framework for low-energy hot-arid buildings.