SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS

Asset Classes

Focus Area

Resilience and Site

Topic

Baseline Practices

Question #

R2.0 – Past Climate Hazards

Question

What climate hazards and extreme weather events has the site experienced in the past 10 years?

Applicability

All asset classes
Owner/landlord occupied building
Tenant occupied building

Answer & Scoring

Yes – this is a baseline requirement

Requirements

  1. Complete the BOMA BEST Form R2.0 that covers:
  2. High-impact climate hazards and events that have been experienced or considered as posing a risk at the property and/or within the region in the past ten years by completing the provided template
      • Provide detail on how relevant hazards affected occupants, key building systems and components
      • If information is not available for ten (10) years or for the hazard, explain why
  3. OR

  4. Conduct a building-specific Climate Change Risk or Resilience Report

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), climate risk results from the interaction of hazard, exposure and vulnerability.

Hazard: the potential occurrence of climate-related physical events or trends that may cause damage and loss.

Exposure: indicates the presence of assets, services, resources and infrastructure that could be adversely affected.

Vulnerability: the propensity or predisposition to be adversely affected.

Documentation

  • Completed Form R2.0  

OR

  • Building-Specific Climate Change Risk or Resilience Report

Suggested Lead

In-house: Building Manager
Third-party: Architectural/Engineering Consultant

Note: This questionnaire requires a third-party consultant.

Value

  • Climate change and global warming causes hazards and extreme weather events to a severity or frequency that building locations may have not previously experienced
  • To prepare for future extreme weather events, it is important to identify which climate-related hazards that are present at a building’s location and the likeliness of occurrence
  • Perform a review of the climate-related hazards that have affected the building over the past 10 years using the BOMA BEST Form R2.0
  • This assessment can be performed in-house or through a third-party. The question is applicable to spaces both inside and outside of the building

Description

To enable preparation and planning, relevant climate-related hazards specific to a property’s location should be identified. This requires consideration of past events that have caused damage and/or disruption and projected future events including their likelihood of occurring and potential consequences at the property level if they do.

Consider both climate hazards that are experienced as trends, such as rising annual temperatures, and climate hazards that are experienced as events, such as severe storms.

Climate risk analysis is complex, and this question is intended to be an initial step rather than a comprehensive assessment.

References

Adapted BB 3.0 Question

New in BOMA BEST 4.0