Policy Solution
Heat resilient building improvements
Awareness and Engagement
Overview:
Summary: Education campaigns for private property owners and developers can build support to invest in heat-resilient building improvements like cool roofs, understand the cost-saving benefits, and access available incentives and programs.
Implementation: Create informational materials and campaigns on ways building owners can reduce the temperatures of their properties.
Considerations for Use: Property owners may also need additional technical assistance and resources after learning about available options.
- Policy Levers: The mechanism municipalities can use to actualize the intervention. These policy levers will likely be used in combination with each other.
Awareness and EngagementGovernments may design and operate programs with the goal of increasing awareness and engagement among constituents or stakeholder groups about the risks and opportunities of extreme heat. - Trigger Points: Opportunities for municipalities to implement risk reduction and preparedness interventions based on the policy lever, building on the United Nations Environment Programme triggers used in the Beating the Heat handbook (2021).
No-regrets actions (low cost/low effort but substantial benefit)Interventions that are relatively low-cost and low effort (in terms of requisite dependencies) but have substantial environmental and/or social benefits. - Intervention Type:
Buildings and Built Form - Sectors:
Buildings, Informal Settlements
- Target Beneficiaries:
Property owners, Residents - Phase of Impact:
Risk reduction and mitigation - Metrics:
Energy savings, Number and scores or levels of certification for buildings that receive green ratings, Number of buildings that comply with updated building codes
Impact:
Implementation:
- Intervention Scale:
Building - Authority and Governance:
City government, State/provincial government - Implementation Timeline:
Short-term (1-2 Years) - Implementation Stakeholders:
City government, Private developers, Property owners and managers, State/provincial government - Funding Sources:
Public investment - Capacity to Act:
High, Medium
- Cost-Benefit:
Low - Public Good:
Medium - GHG Reduction:
Low - Co-benefits (Climate/Environmental):
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions - Co-benefits (Social):
Increase property values, Save on utilities