Part of: Resilient Buildings

How can we adapt our buildings to climate change?

It’s vital to address how our buildings and infrastructure can be adapted to remain fit for the future.

As the climate crisis intensifies and extreme weather events become more common, the UK’s buildings, cities and critical infrastructure are in increasing danger. We must transform our communities, so they are resilient to these hazards and remain safe and able to thrive in this changing climate.

Impacts of climate change on buildings

Our weather is becoming increasingly volatile. Extreme weather events resulting from climate change have intensified over the last decade, posing significant challenges to the resilience of the built environment. 

Buildings in the UK are at risk from a variety of climate-related hazards. These can be divided into two areas. First, chronic hazards, which are slow to progress and cover long term changes to hazards such as changes to temperature, wind, precipitation, and soil erosion. 

The second element comprises acute hazards. These are extreme in nature, occur quickly, and can include hazards such as heatwaves, storms and blizzards, droughts, floods and subsidence. 

These hazards can cause damage to our buildings, in the worst cases making them uninhabitable. Adapting our buildings to climate change allows our cities to be less negatively impacted by these hazards, making it safer for those who live and work in them. 

What can you do to improve the resilience of a building?

On an individual building level, there are a number of changes you can make to improve its resilience to climate hazards.

The specific climate hazards that need to be addressed will depend on a building’s location and before any adaptations are made, resources like the Climate Risk Indicators map should be consulted. This ensures all adaptations have a positive benefit on the resilience of the building and don’t lead to maladaptation.

In 2022 UKGBC launched a report that walks you through understanding and reporting on the physical risks that are facing a building.

Explore the framework here
Nature as part of a flood resilient city

Examples of adaptations for a single building

1

Insulation

As well as reducing carbon emissions, retrofitting buildings helps them keep warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. This means that as temperatures rise, homes can stay cooler without the need for energy intensive air conditioning.
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2

Installing Storm Management Systems

This can be as simple as installing a water butt on a down-pipe or a more complicated smart green-roof system. These modifications reduce the amount of water that has to enter a city’s drainage system at once – reducing the risk of flooding.
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3

Shutters and Shades

As seen in many mediterranean countries, external shutters and shades can be essential for keeping homes cool and ventilated. In fact, large expanses of glass can lead to homes or office buildings overheating more quickly.
4

Use Nature

Whether it’s replacing a paved area with plants to reduce water run-off in a storm or planting trees to cool the air and provide shade, nature is a key player in our effort to make buildings more resilient to a range of climate impacts.
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What can these adaptation methods look like?  

Image of a home with adaptations to heat include: insulation, thoughtful use of space, nature base solutions, shutters and shades, ventilation and light coloured surfaces to reflect heat.

What policies should be implemented to drive more climate adaptation?

As part of developing our Climate Resilience Roadmap, UKGBC has developed 5 key policy priorities for government to accelerate ambition of climate adaptation across the UK. These are:

Make climate safety a national priority under the leadership of the Prime Minister

Create a new Office of Climate and Nature Action within the Cabinet Office under the leadership of the Prime Minister to drive cross-government and UK-wide efforts.

Ensure all planning decisions deliver climate safety

Update the English planning system with a new legal objective to deliver on the climate adaptation goals outlined in the Climate Change Act. This should be mirrored in the devolved administrations.

Protect all communities with trees, parks and ponds

Update Local Plans so every area has targets and strategies to protect communities from flooding and overheating.

Ensure new buildings are fit for a more hazardous climate future

Introduce a follow-on Homes and Buildings Standard by 2028 with new regulations to protect against increasing climate hazards, particularly overheating, flooding and water scarcity.

Make existing homes and buildings climate safe

Include climate resilience as part of a 10-year national retrofit strategy, including government investment and regulation and incentives to mobilise private investment.

What can built environment professionals do to promote more resilient buildings?

Designers and architects

Need to draw up plans for buildings with climate resilience in mind. They will design in adaptation strategies including shutters, insulation, nature-based solutions and storm drainage systems, their motivation being the creation of resilient buildings which will be in use for years to come.

Asset owners, developers and the investment community

Need to understand the risks their buildings face due to climate change. Measuring these risks, and reporting them to their clients as well as via TCFD where required, is vital, as is mitigating the potential for damage arising from such risks, where possible, to avoid assets becoming ‘stranded’, at risk of obsolescence. Investment in adaptation measures is critical.
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Insurers

Need to understand how climate risk fits into their portfolio and adapt accordingly. Without this knowledge they will be unable to assess the risk they face and how to deal with it.

What’s next for Climate Change Adaptation and the Built Environment?

UKGBC is developing the UK Climate Resilience Roadmap to outline how we can, as an industry and society, create towns and cities that are resilient in the face of our changing climate and can thrive for generations. 

At COP29 we outlined our vision for a sustainable built environment, as well as some key definitions of adaptation and resilience. 

In June 2025, we will be launching the full report which will outline further recommendations for industry and policy makers, with a roadmap to guide the UK built environment forward.  

Learn more about the Roadmap

UK Climate Resilience Roadmap

As climate change impacts continue to occur, the built environment must prepare for hazards such as heatwaves, floods, and storms whilst cutting carbon emissions. To start, we first need to understand how to measure our resilience, establish industry-wide targets and pinpoint essential actions and policies to achieve them.
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Climate Change Adaptation

As the climate crisis intensifies and extreme weather events become more common, the UK’s buildings, cities and critical infrastructure, and the communities that use and occupy these, are in increasing danger. It’s vital to address how our buildings and infrastructure can be adapted to remain fit for the future.
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Climate Resilience webinar