As the housing crisis and climate crisis collide, we need more homes that are comfortable, affordable, resilient, and sustainable.
Climate Resilience & Sustainability
We partner to protect people
who are vulnerable to climate change.
Climate-fueled disasters force 20 million+ people from their homes every year. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Build Change and our partners are breaking down the barriers to climate-resilient housing and making homes more sustainable. The barriers we face – people, policy, money, and technology – are not new. Our partnerships finance and fuel new ways to overcome them.
Our engineers and technologists work with corporations, foundations, microfinance institutions, builders, governments, and most importantly homeowners. We are assessing homes damaged by climate-related events quickly and efficiently using innovative technology. We’re strengthening houses after floods and adding secure second stories with solar panels to provide reliable energy. We’re fortifying homes before cyclones strike. We’re adapting houses to extreme heat and financing the improvements with microloans.
Join us in protecting people and our planet.
- We need more (and better) housing. UN-Habitat estimates 40% of the world’s population will need access to adequate housing by 2030
- We need to reduce emissions. UN-Environment concludes that buildings and construction together account for almost 40% of co2 emissions.
Climate Mitigation
We face two conflicting global challenges:
The most sustainable home is the one that already exists, assuming it is disaster-resilient. By strengthening existing homes, we could save 4.8 gigatons of CO2 and address the global housing gap at the same time.
- Strong wind storms: We’ve conducted cost-benefit analysis that shows that $1 invested in home improvements for hurricanes could save homeowners up to $4.
- Floods: We’re mitigating inland floods by raising the ground floor elevation and adding resilient second stories.
- Extreme heat: We’re providing guidance on orientation, shading of facades and openings, reflective paint, and wall plastering and roof insulation.
Sint Maarten: Post-hurricane Irma roof design and construction for Cat 5 winds
Climate Adaptation
Our focus on adaptation for climate resilience has centered on improvements against three main hazards.
The Climate-Resilient Housing Initiative, powered by Build Change, is at the forefront of global efforts to embed resilience into the housing sector. We engage decision-makers and homeowners across the housing value chain and bring together governments, financial institutions, philanthropists, and innovators to ensure that climate-resilient housing is accessible to all.
We are building climate resilience
around the world
Honduras
Build Change has partnered with the Honduran Red Cross on a climate change adaptation program in the Sula Valley, Cortes. The expanded homes not only offer shelter during severe storms and floods, they also enhance the daily quality of life for families by providing more living space, increased comfort, and home-based workspaces.
Philippines
We’re partnering with Holcim and ASKI-MFI to climate-proof the homes of families in Aurora and Nueva Ecija (Central Luzon). We’re providing access to housing loans, hosting awareness raising events, and employing 120 local masons to strengthen homes using Holcim’s low-carbon cement products.
Colombia
We’re partnering with Echoing Green to build the capacity of five Afro-Colombian community organizations that will implement the “Cambia mi Casa” program run by Colombia’s Ministry of Housing. This partnership will advance racial justice and equity by enhancing access to housing improvement programs and transforming national housing policies.
Indonesia
The Indonesia Green and Affordable Housing Program (IGAHP), which the Ministry plans to launch in 2025, aims to produce 1 million+ units of housing that are sustainable and affordable by 2030. A pilot with Build Change in Central Java and Lampung province will ensure that these homes are also resilient to climate-related disasters. Through testing on approximately 100 homes in 2024, Build Change will develop guidelines for new construction and improving existing homes through retrofitting. At least 30 government officials and construction supervisors will receive training and technical assistance to ensure IGAHP results in affordable, sustainable, and resilient housing at scale.
Together, we are building the future
of climate-resilient housing
- In Indonesia, a new microloan product created with microfinance institution KOMIDA will finance extreme heat adaptation for 2,000+ women homeowners making under $5 per day.
- In Mexico, 880+ homes damaged by Hurricane Otis are being rebuilt to withstand windstorms as well as earthquakes with technical assistance and capacity building for Habitat for Humanity.
- In Mozambique, homeowners will drive climate resilience improvements to 8,400 homes in a 23-month project with Fundo para o Fomento de Habitacao, FP that includes vulnerability assessments, design, training, construction monitoring, and new financing options.
- In Comoros, through a partnership with the World Bank, prototype designs and a builders’ guide are integrated with a new supervision app to enable 257 new disaster- and climate-resilient construction projects by June 2025.
- In the Maldives, where 50+ percent of the national budget is spent adapting to climate change, policy recommendations and a new builders’ guide provided to the Government of the Maldives improve national housing resilience and accelerate sustainable building practices.
Support resilient housing worldwide
Join us in preventing housing loss caused by disasters and climate-induced events.
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