The Global Resiliency Dialogue recently published findings of its first international survey in “The Use of Climate Data and Assessment of Extreme Weather Event Risks in Building Codes around the World.”
This initiative was established in 2019 by The International Code Council, the Australian Building Codes Board, the National Research Council of Canada, and the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, to foster global collaboration in addressing evolving climate risks in codes and standards. The aim is to create an international resiliency guideline and enable collaborative research efforts that will aid jurisdictions across the globe to better prepare the building stock to withstand the more extreme weather events, including high wind, flooding, and wildfire, that the evidence and science tells us have been and will continue to increase in frequency and duration.
The first deliverable of the Global Resiliency Dialogue, this report provides valuable context about the current level of integration of climate science in the provisions of advanced building codes around the world. According to the report findings, although many countries are actively considering the integration of models and methodologies that would more accurately predict the risk to buildings during their anticipated life cycle, the vast majority of advanced building codes implemented globally still rely on historical data to assess the risk to buildings from extreme weather events.
“There is great value in building code development and research organizations around the world collectively considering how building safety codes and standards can best adapt to address existential challenges like climate change,” said International Code Council Chief Executive Officer Dominic Sims, CBO. “There is a demand in many jurisdictions in the United States and around the world that have already experienced devastating impacts of more frequent and intense weather-related hazards for buildings that are safe and durable even in these changing conditions.”
Download the free report on the organization’s website.
