The White House says your home may be at risk from the catastrophic effects of climate change, as it looks to change building codes to increase the nation’s resilience to global warming.
“The impacts of climate change — including hotter temperatures, more extreme weather, sea level rise and more severe drought — pose significant challenges for buildings and homes, many of which were not built to withstand the future impacts of climate change,” the White House said Tuesday in announcing the effort.
The Obama administration held a summit Tuesday to discuss what it and supporters of building climate-resilient homes and buildings can do to face the threat.
The White House says building codes are important for dealing with the effects of climate change because they “set the baseline for the safe design and construction of our homes, schools, and workplaces,” which “safeguard the health, safety and welfare of building occupants.”
The Environmental Protection Agency will be releasing a report in the fall on the actions needed to be taken to change zoning and building codes, and other related policies, “to prepare for and adapt to climate change while bringing other environmental, economic, social and health benefits,” according to a fact sheet.
Other actions announced Tuesday, include:
- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will launch a website to promote more resilient communities through the use of the newest standards and criteria, building codes and recent climate science.
- The Department of Homeland Security will develop the Community Infrastructure Resilience Toolkit to be released in late 2016. The toolkit will help develop climate-resilient neighborhoods.
- The General Services Administration will create the “Climate Change Risk Screening for Capital Investment Leasing Program,” in which it will commit to incorporate “climate change risk management” into its decision-making process for government infrastructure projects.
