In recent weeks, there’s been a lot of discussion around climate change and resilient buildings. A new report from the United Nations from hundreds of climate scientists around the world notes that the climate crisis is not going away anytime soon. According to the report, released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Earth is the hottest since the Ice Age, and the number of heat waves, wildfires, droughts and storms that have been happening are directly caused by global warming.
While the report says climate change keeps getting worse and will do so until greenhouse gas pollution is reduced to zero by finding alternate energy sources from oil, coal and gas, it also notes there is still hope to lessen the worst impacts of climate change. By shifting away from fossil fuels and removing the vast amounts of carbon from the air, global warming could slow and level off at around 1.5 C, which is the amount where the dangers start to grow considerably.
Following the release of the report, the U.S. Green Building Council did a roundup of recent articles discussing the need for resilient building practices as a way to deal with the mounting climate challenges. The post, which can be read at www.usgbc.org/articles/recent-reports-highlight-need-resilient-building-practices, features a variety of recent reports that highlight how work in cities and towns to build resilience can help protect the lives and livelihoods of residents. For example, a report by C40 Cities and McKinsey Sustainability called Focused Adaption, explains how there are unique factors such as natural elements, economics, social conditions, existing buildings and other infrastructures that cities must consider when forming a plan, while offering up 15 potential actions that encompass nature-based solutions, systemic resilience, and climate-focused adaptation and resilience. Be sure to check out the post for more information.
And, be sure to read this month’s Constructive Insights column, where Alan Scott goes into a deeper discussion on climate risk and resilience assessments. Part 2 will be in next month’s issue.
While climate change and global warming aren’t going away, we are able to start taking the steps now to help lower its impact in the future. Doing what we can now will ensure that our children and grandchildren have a safe place to live and grow up in the future.
