Following their involvement in our Physical Risk Labs, Chris Hills from our Programme Partner Hydrock reflects on the process of measuring the physical risk of their portfolio.
Increased flooding, higher temperatures, and more frequent wildfires. The consequences of climate change are ever more apparent. Governments, businesses and asset owners are beginning to recognise the need to assess and manage the consequences of climate change, to reduce their future risk.
Climate risk assessments identify the climate risks, determine the potential impact of these risks, and develop strategies to mitigate and adapt to them. However, conducting an effective climate risk assessment requires a well-defined methodology that takes into account the unique challenges posed by climate change.
The Framework
Acknowledging this gap, the UK Green Building Council launched ‘A Framework for Measuring and Reporting of Climate-related Physical Risks to Built Assets’ in February 2022. The framework seeks to assist asset owners and organisations in preparing for and responding to the impacts of climate change and is an essential first step towards addressing physical risks from climate change within the industry.
The launch of the framework was paired with the ‘Physical Risk Labs’ to discuss and monitor early projects that were utilising it. This was to test stress and highlight any difficulties when using it in practice. Hydrock were a contributor to the ‘Physical Risk Labs’ as project partners with the University of Nottingham (UoN). UoN appointed Hydrock to undertake a climate risk assessment and provide adaptation recommendations for the university’s assets at Jubilee Campus, which included 30 buildings and 14 infrastructure assets.
The framework methodology follows a five-step process and recommends a number of tools and datasets that could be used within risk assessments such as the UK Climate Projections 2018 (UKCP18) dataset, the UK Climate Risk Indicators map and Environmental Agency flood mapping. The primary data used within our assessment was the UKCP18 data.
Read more: https://ukgbc.org/news/what-is-it-like-to-measure-the-physical-risk-of-built-assets/