Resilient Buildings

Summary of the 'Resilient Buildings' project by Dr. Julie Clarke and Dr Paul Nolan, which they will be presenting: "Extreme weather events, which are increasing in frequency and intensity due to climate change, may cause significant damage to housing, commercial property and critical infrastructure, resulting in substantial costs, as well as health and well-being impacts. Some of the main risks to buildings in Ireland and their occupants include flood damage, heat stress, structural damage due to wind and driving rain, as well as coastal erosion. However, these risks are currently not well understood in terms of the spatial variation (i.e. where they are), as well as the temporal variation (i.e. how they change over time). The proposed research will support Ireland's goal of becoming climate resilient by 2050 by quantifying the risk to buildings in Ireland as a result of climate change impacts. The project will consider various climate hazards and consider these in conjunction with building vulnerability attributes to quantify the risk. The project will develop a risk index for buildings in Ireland due to climate change impacts. This will inform stakeholders of the spatial and temporal risk for building locations due to climate-related hazards, enabling targeted and specific adaptation measures to be determined for the built environment. This index will support building owners, local authorities, insurers, banks, as well as other key stakeholders in terms of climate change adaptation, helping to deliver Ireland's goal of becoming climate resilient by 2050."