In the face of a changing climate, studying the possible ways to improve resilience and reduce climate risk can analyze the costs and benefits of different options to guide decision-making. Sonae Sierra has therefore decided to implement a review process of some of the company's Environmental Standards related to the issue of adaptation to climate change.
For Sonae Sierra, the integration of resilience analysis in the conventional life cycle of a project can give the possibility to foresee potential problems and build their new buildings adapted to extreme weather events planned for the future. The main impacts of climate change in construction, which were taken into account in the review of Standards, can be classified into three categories (Gething, 2010):
- Comfort and energy performance: maintain thermal comfort in the cooler / warmer seasons without increasing energy consumption and carbon emissions is a challenge currently present in the construction and maintenance of buildings;
- Resilience Building: individualize the choice of materials depending on the desired strength and behavior of materials;
- Water management: ensure good management of the resource in conditions of excess and scarcity.
The services provided were:
- Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change Environmental Standards in Sonae Sierra involving concepts such as exposure to weather conditions, sensitivity, and vulnerability;
- Review of existing methodologies;
- Submission of proposed amendments to the standards;
- Improvement opportunities identified in the Recommendation performed analysis.