The Future is Now: Lessons from Climate-ready Housing Design Projects

The Future is Now: Lessons from Climate-ready Housing Design Projects

This webinar is part of the RAIC 2024 Conference on Architecture, now available to stream!

Topics: Climate Justice and Resilience, Sustainability, Adaptation and Mitigation

Length: 1 hour | What's Included: Video, Quiz, and Certificate of Completion 

2023 has been a banner year for climate-related hazards in British Columbia. Heat waves, flooding, and fires have deeply affected the homes and buildings we rely on to keep us safe. Policy changes at national, regional and local government levels are setting a growing expectation for more climate-resilient design. Responding to this changing landscape, BC Housing developed an interactive Climate Ready Housing Design Guide to help identify project-specific climate resilient design strategies. This tool and others are helping design teams better integrate climate resilience into the design process and the presenters will share lessons learned from embedding climate resilience into real projects.

This session will showcase housing development case studies that are integrating climate resilience throughout all stages of design and climate solutions that are emerging across the housing sector in Canada.

By the completion of this session, participants will be able to:

• Recognize the climate solutions and learnings that are emerging across the housing sector in Canada
• Describe the key climate change risks facing BC building owners and occupants, and the role of design in addressing these risks.
• Interpret knowledge from the real experience of case studies in adopting more climate-ready design.
• Use BC Housing’s New Climate-Ready Housing Design Guide to identify project-specific climate resilient design strategies

Subject Matter Experts:

Wilma Leung
Senior Manager
Technical Research and Education, BCH Research Centre, BC Housing

Wilma Leung has decades of experience in civil and structural engineering, environmental management, government administration, and building design and construction. Wilma is a recognized innovator and industry leader in energy efficiency and climate resilience for the housing and building sector. At BC Housing, she leads research and education that systematically improve the quality of residential design and construction. This research helps better prepare the sector to meet emerging needs and avert anticipated challenges. Wilma is a member of both the BC Energy Step Code Council and the Standing Committee on Energy Efficiency nationally. Through co-leading the Mobilizing Building Adaptation and Resilience (MBAR) initiative, she advances the development of sector knowledge and capacity in enabling, designing and building low-carbon, climate adapted and disaster-resilient housing infrastructure.

Robin Hawker
MScPI, RPP, MCIP
Associate Principal - Climate Resilience, Introba (formerly Integral Group)