Comment & Analysis
Ahead of our forthcoming 1st International Conference-Workshop on Climate Adaptation and Resilience, in this case study Taryn Green, Senior Technical Director at RWDI, and Dr Laura Kent, Public Affairs and Policy Advisor at IMechE, take a look at the work the City of Toronto conducted on Building Resiliency Assessments.
In recognition that adaptation has become essential in addressing the impacts of climate change, the City of Toronto recently conducted a series of Climate Change and Building Resiliency Assessments as part of their ongoing Building Condition Assessments process. Like many major cities around the world, Toronto has felt the impact of increased frequency and severity of severe weather, including extreme temperatures and heatwaves, and was seeking a means of identifying and quantifying climate vulnerabilities at the asset level to prioritize adaptation efforts.
The City enlisted a consultant, RWDI, to develop an approach to assessing climate resilience and adaptation strategies for a portfolio of City-owned buildings. RWDI, on behalf of the City, has completed over 150 whole building and site resiliency assessments. A range of building types were assessed, including community centres, power generation stations, fire stations, office buildings, warehouse buildings, and several heritage buildings including the City of Toronto’s Old City Hall. Building components to be considered included security, accessibility, enclosures, electrical and mechanical systems, water systems, site, and building structure.
The assessment framework needed to be flexible enough to provide quantifiable risk analysis as well as concise, actionable feedback across a range of building types. The process was adapted from the Public Infrastructure Engineering Vulnerability Committee (PIEVC) Protocol and ISO 31000 risk frameworks and included desktop research and data collection, on-site investigation of the building, assessment of climate hazards for each site, mapping of vulnerabilities across the portfolio, and quantification of risks.
RWDI developed a database of building vulnerabilities based on relevant climate hazards, such as undersized cooling equipment, along with a probability and severity score to quantify the risk for each vulnerability. Probability was scored in a numerical scale based on the likelihood of the climate change hazard, state of good repair of the component, redundancy, and historic performance. Severity was evaluated for the potential damage to systems, productivity risk, and human health risk. The total study looked at 150 systems at 150 different buildings which equates to 22,500 points of potential climate vulnerability. These vulnerabilities were then ranked and formed the basis for recommended adaptation measures, including the creation of extreme weather operational plans and right-sizing of building cooling systems.
The resulting framework provides an enhanced methodology for identifying regional climate hazards, including extreme temperatures, auditing building components and systems, identifying risks and vulnerabilities, and developing building-specific recommendations to enhance resiliency and adaptive capacity. The City is now in the process of implementing recommended resiliency measures across the portfolio.
As the world grapples with the escalating climate crisis, Toronto's innovative Climate Change and Building Resiliency Assessments serve as a blueprint for cities globally. This strategic collaboration between the City and RWDI has yielded a flexible and effective framework that quantifies risks, identifies vulnerabilities, and recommends adaptive measures across a diverse range of buildings.
This case study builds on the Institutions work earlier this year on ‘Adapting Industry to Withstand Rising Temperatures and Future Heatwaves’ and several related blogs that have been posted throughout the summer. Looking ahead, the Institution is hosting its 1st International Conference-Workshop on Climate Adaptation and Resilience early next month (6-8 September), where speakers from across the globe will presenting on different adaptation needs and requirements. Taryn’s colleague, and IMechE Trustee, Ruth Shilston will be presenting, along with Laura, on the urgent need for industry to prepare and adapt to increasing temperatures and future heatwaves. The conference promises to provide actionable insights that will steer industry toward a more climate-resilient future.