The Housing Connection
You might be wondering what housing has to do with climate change. Well, housing has a major contribution to make to emissions reduction, and at the same time needs to change to adapt to new climate realities.
Housing and Emissions
In 2021, a report prepared for the UN Environment Program estimated that buildings account for 36% of global final energy use (that is, the energy used ultimately to construct and operate buildings) and 37% of greenhouse gas emissions. The construction industry accounted for 10% of the emissions, including the production of building materials, their transport, and the construction process itself. The other 27% came from building operations – heating, cooling, lighting, cooking, water heating and powering appliances. These figures include both residential and commercial buildings, with about 60% of total building emissions coming from residential buildings – so residential housing (what we do) is responsible for almost a quarter of all global emissions!
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The Mitigation sections of this website talk more about this, and how to reduce this impact in social housing.
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Adapting Housing
Secondly, housing will be affected by climate change. Housing will need to be adapted to take account of these changes. This will involve paying attention to:
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Housing location, taking account of changes to risk of flood and tidal inundation, and bushfire risk.
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Housing design, taking account of changed heating and cooling needs and changed durability needs in the face of more severe weather events.
The Adaptation sections talk more about this, and about how to acquire and manage housing in a way that takes account of coming climate changes.