How do you make sure buildings are tough enough to manage the impacts of climate change?

2015 is likely to be the hottest year on record, according to the WMO, with ocean surface temperatures at the highest level since measurements began. Levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached new highs, and it is probable that the 1°C Celsius warming threshold will be crossed. December 2015 broke records for both rainfall and temperature – it was the wettest month on record, and also 4.1 °C warmer than the long-term average. The UK was also hit by a series of storms bringing severe flooding to north-east England, Scotland and parts of Wales and Northern Ireland. 

With climate projections predicting warmer and wetter winters, hotter drier summers and an increase in severe weather events, the Climate Change Commission for Wales (CCCW) believes it is critical to prioritise adaptation and building resilience to manage the impact of climate change.  In its recently published manifesto, the CCCW top asks are for:

*Commitment to energy efficiency as a long-term national infrastructure plan priority backed up with a multi-billion pound capital investment programme that can leverage in private funding and gives the same clarity, purpose and focus as other major infrastructure project in Wales.

*Support a national retrofit programme and set a minimum goal for all homes in Wales to achieve an Energy Performance Certificate of Band C by 2025 to support a reduction in fuel poverty.

*Commit to making all new homes zero carbon from 2016 and all new non-domestic buildings zero carbon from 2019 so Wales can continue to demonstrate leadership in this sector. 

Further information can be found at http://www.thecccw.org.uk/reducing-emissions-from-the-built-environment/

In addition, in 2015 the Commission’s Adaptation sub-group held workshops with a range of organisations to explore how sectors can improve their resilience. Focussing on “Business & Tourism”, “Communities” and “Infrastructure” sectors the group considered

*How current severe weather and future climate change will impact the sectors

*How to identify the risks and opportunities facing the sector

*What sources of help and information are available and how to access them.

*Actions you can take to improve the resilience of your sector to severe weather and climate change impacts – in terms of both keeping your existing systems working, and designing new assets and systems.

For infrastructure these included

*Higher priority for actions that assess vulnerability to climate change impacts, and make the economic case for building our resilience to the impacts of climate change across all sectors.

*Provide support for the development and implementation of the Sectoral Adaptation Plans (SAPs) for Communities, Business & Tourism, Infrastructure, Natural Environment & Health, by taking a ‘systems’ approach, recognising the many inter-dependencies between different organisations and sectors. 

*Build on programmes that support and incentivise community engagement in trialling and then mainstreaming locally-determined and replicable solutions, such as Strong Roots. 

The findings will be published shortly on http://www.thecccw.org.uk/adaption/