NU Online News Service, March 13, 1:55 p.m.EDT

Working under the assumption that climate change isinevitable, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and theUniversity of Michigan's Taubman College of Architecture and UrbanPlanning have released a study outlining how building professionalscan anticipate changing environmental conditions and reducepotential impacts on both the built environment and newconstruction.

“Green Building and Climate Resilience: Understanding Impactsand Preparing for Changing Conditions” examines eight regions ofthe U.S. (Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Great Plains, Northwest,Southwest, Alaska and Islands) and the expected climate-relatedvulnerabilities in each area, then drills down to provide design,construction and operation strategies to mitigate each risk.

“Until now, green building practice has focused primarily onlessening the built environment's contribution to climate changethrough the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions,” the reportstates. “The next step is to understand the impact of climatechange on the built environment and to incorporate appropriateadaptation strategies into green building practice so that theenvironments we design, build, and manage today will be suitablefor a range of uncertain futures.”

Read related: “Carriers Gain Comfort Level with GreenCoverage.”

Based on the existing LEED rating system and LEED referenceguides, building professionals can set performance goals for thefuture climate, for both new and existing buildings, the reportsuggests. For example, a project in a region expected to experiencemore intense rain events could set a goal of managing all stormwater runoff onsite.

Recommendations are broken down into six categories:

• Envelope—relating to the thermal properties of the buildingshell.

• Siting and landscape—the performance of site or landscape torespond to temperature and/or precipitation impacts.

• Heating, cooling, lighting—the performance of buildingmechanical and electrical systems.

• Water and waste—efficiency of plumbing systems to respond todecreases in water supply or electrical power interruption.

• Equipment—to allow for increased capacity without reducingperformance.

• Process and operations—to improve design processes or energyperformance in response to climate events.

The report then looks at 81 mitigations, such as interior andexterior shading devices (envelope), fire-safe landscaping (sitingand landscape), evaporative cooling towers (heating, cooling,lighting), gray-water system (water and waste), that can make abuilding “resilient” to anticipated climate change, or “no regrets”(a higher standard that can include exceeding existing codes forwall and roof insulation, etc.).

For example, the report identifies the Midwest, Southeast andSouthwest regions as being at high risk for increased temperatureson urban heat islands and prioritizes the use of covered or shadedparking to absorb less heat than conventional asphalt.

The report concedes that the few studies examining the effectsof climate change at the neighborhood or building scale havefocused on California and the Northeast, and that more research isneeded to understand the benefits, costs and efficacy of eachstrategy.

Read related: “TraditionalE&O Risks Emerge From SustainableConstruction.“

“Every building is designed for a specific range of conditions,such as peak temperature, storm surge and average precipitation,”said Dr. Chris Pyke, vice president of research at USBGC. “Climatechange has the potential to undermine some of these assumptions andpotentially increase risks to people and property. Fortunately,there are practical steps we can take to understand and prepare forthe consequences of changing environmental conditions and reducepotential impacts.”