Adequate climate protection and adaptation to extreme weather events and periods are vital for safeguarding humans, animals, and the environment. Therefore, urban planning must proactively respond to changing circumstances by incorporating climate considerations into building and open space design. In Germany, architectural competitions are a common approach to address complex challenges and integrate solutions early in the planning process. However, the impact of climate change still needs to be incorporated into the criteria of the competition processes by default. To address this gap, an interdisciplinary team developed a comprehensive criteria catalog and text modules covering buildings and outdoor spaces for competition briefs. We provided a criteria catalog to competition organizers and assessed its practicality through seven case studies in southern Germany. The analysis reveals that a significant portion of the climate-friendly criteria is incorporated into the competition briefs and subsequently reflected in the winning designs. Importantly, this integration does not impose substantial additional planning efforts, as most of the criteria can be met within the scope of the required deliverables if the criteria are addressed in the initial fundamental analysis and competition brief. Nevertheless, architects can improve the design process by incorporating urban water management expertise. Integrating green- and water-related aspects, such as differing between traffic and vegetation areas or existing trees over tree removal, is crucial for climate-adaptive construction. Therefore, it should be emphasized in future competition briefs. This paper presents the content of the criteria catalog and illustrates how to issue architectural competitions with a climate-friendly focus without imposing additional effort on planners.