Approach comprises three parts

The ‘Framework for Climate Adaptive Buildings’ approach comprises three steps. A report of each step is available. Part 1 describes the first step, which provides insight into the effects of climate change on the building’s immediate environment. This part was written by CAS. Part 2 describes the approach to determine the building score. And part 3 helps you determine which  measures can reduce or eliminate the risks. Part 1 can be downloaded below and parts 2 and 3 can be found on the DGBC website.

Download part 1: score for the building’s immediate environment 

What did the project entail?

Together with the Dutch Green Building Council (DGBC) and many other parties, we worked on an approach to assess the climate risks for every building. It was a broad collaboration of financial institutions, knowledge institutes, consultants and governments. At the end of the project we have presented a publicly available report with an accompanying online ‘shop window’. This way, everyone will be able to use this approach for free.

What was the aim of the project?

Ultimately, we want this joint approach to be used as a basis for a first, high-level climate risk analysis of buildings. The approach is based on the best available, freely accessible Dutch national data. The aim is also that this approach will be widely supported. With this joint ‘framework for climate adaptive buildings’ we want to lay the foundation for a common language and a level playing field for climate adaptation in the built environment. By referring to freely available data, with transparency on the underlying methods, we hope to improve the comparability and reproducibility of climate risk analyses. 

What was our role?

Together with several knowledge institutions and real estate parties, CAS has developed an approach to determine the ‘physical climate risk’. This project was the first step in DGBC’s larger project ‘Framework for Climate Adaptive Buildings’. The physical climate risk is also referred to as the ‘gross climate risk’. By also considering the vulnerability of a building and including building-specific features in an analysis, the ‘net climate risk’ is created. We used freely available, nationwide data as a basis. This approach was reviewed by researchers from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, HKV Lijn in water and Deltares. Among other things, they looked at new scientific insights, new climate scenarios and new data sources.