Climate Risk Reduction

As a national leader in resilience, adaptation, and disaster preparedness, we’ve transformed more than 20 years of best practices into actionable strategies that are helping communities across the country withstand and recover from natural disasters.

In partnership with a dynamic cross section of industry leaders, we develop tools that help assess risk, build readiness, and mitigate the impacts of natural hazards. We also connect people to the necessary resources and financing to help them rebuild in a way that is more resilient to future events. To date, we have awarded $300,000 in pass-through funding to support these efforts.

$300,000

in pass-through funding for climate risk reduction programs

860+

people trained or received technical assistance from the team

In addition to our programmatic work, we are working with all levels of government on policies and best practices to advance equitable climate risk reduction and promote solutions to provide climate-ready affordable housing. Recognized nationally as subject matter experts, we provide testimony that helps shape federal, state, and local policy; participate in panels at national and regional conferences; and work with agency officials to advocate for equitable climate solutions.

Climate Risk Reduction is just one pillar of our comprehensive response to climate change. Our Building Resilient Futures team is also leading the industry in Green Communities and Equitable Decarbonization.

Climate Resilience Academies

The multifamily owners, operators, and developers we work with across the country told us they needed practical resources that were both effective and accessible to protect their portfolios from a changing climate. In response, we launched the nation’s first Climate Resilience Academy focused on climate risk reduction for affordable housing.

Building upon the success of our first academy, we’ve tailored our content to address the unique hazards faced by different regions around the country. More than 150 multifamily affordable housing professionals have participated in one of our regional cohorts. Upon completing an academy, 100% of those surveyed felt capable of assessing their portfolio’s climate risk.

A woman works at a laptop with a notebook and pen on the desk

Resource Hub

We developed a collection of climate risk reduction tools and resources to help affordable housing developers, owners, and operators make their properties more resilient.

Whether you’re looking to understand your risk, build readiness plans, mitigate impact, or recover from a disaster, we have the tools you need. We’ve also developed a FAQs page to help you find the information you need fast in the event of a crisis.

Visit the Resource Hub to learn more or contact us to explore additional capacity building programs.

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Midwest Academy

Our Midwest Climate Resilience Academy for multifamily housing owners, operators, and developers across Chicago, Detroit, and Ohio was held in Spring 2024.

Learn about the cohort

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Advancing Climate Resilience

In addition to our industry-leading resources, we partner with researchers and government organizations to advance the field of climate risk reduction in affordable housing development while addressing the growing inadequacies of our system.

Our practice-informed policy guidance leverages more than 20 years of crafting and implementing actionable policies. We are currently focused on advocating for policies and building requirements that utilize forward-looking climate data to create comfortable, safe housing in the face of changing participation patterns, heat stressors, and more extreme weather events.

Learn more about our federal policy priorities, including advocating for equitable implementation of Inflation Reduction Act funding and permanent authorization of CDBG-DR.

Research Partners

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development	The Urban Institute	Fannie Mae
Freddie Mac	National Renewal Energy Lab	Brookings Institution