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Extracted Content
Where possible, use the information from the assessment to inform the planning, design, and operations and maintenance of the project and describe how project-specific strategies were considered.
REQUIREMENTS EXPLAINED
Incorporating climate resilience into the design and development of new construction projects helps mitigate the impacts of climate change and enhances the long-term durability of buildings against key vulnerabilities. A climate resilience assessment supports project teams in identifying and evaluating site-specific climate hazards that could threaten the performance, safety, and longevity of a building. This process provides a framework for embedding data-driven, forwardlooking strategies that align with regional climate adaptation plans, building codes, and sustainability objectives.
Addressing climate risks during the design and construction phases not only improves a building’s ability to withstand extreme weather events but also supports broader goals of public safety, economic stability, cultural preservation, and community resilience. By integrating these considerations, new development projects can better adapt to changing conditions. This ensures long-term functionality, reduced lifecycle costs, and a more sustainable environment.
This prerequisite requires project teams to conduct a comprehensive climate and natural hazard assessment, identifying current and projected hazards that may impact the project site and building operations. The assessment must address site-specific hazards such as drought, heat, flooding, hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, and other relevant risks. Teams must prioritize at least two hazards and analyze them using the emissions scenarios from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s ( IPCC) Shared Socioeconomic Pathways [5] (SSPs), specifying the project’s service life and assessing hazard levels, risks, vulnerability, and potential impacts on site operations and construction. In addition to the safety and welfare of occupants, the findings should be used to inform the project’s planning, design, construction, operations, and maintenance and remain in alignment with the critical need to design for asset longevity.
Conducting a climate and natural hazard assessment is required to identify key vulnerabilities and guide operational decisions to improve project resilience over its lifespan. For many teams, especially those new to risk assessments, this will be an educational and goal-setting process. In identifying risks and vulnerabilities, teams can begin to integrate project-specific resilience strategies aimed at mitigating the impacts of natural hazards and enhancing the project’s adaptation capacity.
5 Iturbide, M., Fernández, J., Gutiérrez, J.M. et al. “Implementation of FAIR principles in the IPCC: the WGI AR6 Atlas repository.” Sci Data 9, 629 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01739-y.
U.S. Green Building Council LEED v5 Reference Guide for Building Design and Construction, April 2025 Launch Edition 21