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32838_WRI_cov.indd
The report identifies energy insecurity, water scarcity, and climate change as significant financial risks for commercial buildings in South and Southeast Asia. It details how these trends increase utility costs, accelerate building depreciation, and cause construction delays. To mitigate these risks, the report proposes a risk assessment framework based on building location (exposure) and design (vulnerability). It further argues that green building investments can reduce these risks and provide net positive financial returns, often within three to five years, particularly in the Indian market.
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Document type: Report
Confronting Climate Change in the U.S. Midwest
The report projects that Michigan will face significantly hotter summers, increased flooding, and agricultural disruptions by the end of the century, particularly under a higher-emissions scenario. It highlights risks to public health from extreme heat and ozone pollution, as well as threats to the state's dairy and corn industries. To mitigate these effects, the document advocates for strengthening renewable energy standards, updating building codes, and implementing federal cap-and-trade and fuel economy policies.
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Document type: Report
Confronting Climate Change in the U.S. Midwest
The report projects that Missouri will face significantly hotter summers, increased flooding, and agricultural disruptions if heat-trapping emissions continue to rise. It highlights severe risks for St. Louis, including extreme heat waves and deteriorating air quality, and suggests a combination of state-level energy efficiency and federal climate legislation to mitigate these effects.
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Document type: Report
Manitoba Adaptation Day: Understanding Manitoba-focused adaptation activities, research and capacity
The report details a workshop held on March 26, 2009, which brought together academics, policy-makers, and researchers to assess Manitoba's readiness for climate change. It identifies key climate risks for the Prairie region, such as water scarcity and ecosystem shifts, and outlines existing provincial activities like the 'Beyond Kyoto' action plan and various sustainable agriculture and water management projects. Participants highlighted significant barriers to adaptation, including short-term policy thinking, a lack of community-level capacity, and the absence of an overarching provincial adaptation strategy. The document proposes the creation of a Manitoba Climate Research Table to coordinate efforts and break down institutional silos, and discusses the Regional Adaptation Collaborative (RAC) program funded by Natural Resources Canada to address water issues in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
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Document type: Report
American Support for Local Action on Global Warming
The document outlines a research project conducted via two national telephone surveys in September 2007 to assess American public support for local government actions to mitigate global warming. It argues that local governments are critical players in reducing greenhouse gas emissions because urban areas are the primary sources of these gases and local authorities control key levers such as building codes, zoning, transportation, and electricity production.
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Document type: Executive summary
What building community can do
The document outlines actionable steps for town planners, building inspectors, developers, real estate brokers, contractors, builders, architects, and suppliers to integrate energy-efficient practices and renewable energy technologies into the built environment.
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Document type: Guide
Clean Energy Blueprint
The Clean Energy Blueprint proposes a comprehensive set of policies to increase energy efficiency and renewable energy in the US. By 2020, the plan aims to have non-hydro renewables provide 20% of electricity, reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by two-thirds compared to business-as-usual, and save consumers $440 billion. The report argues that these measures would eliminate the need for 975 new power plants and significantly reduce reliance on coal and natural gas.
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Document type: Report
Briefing note: Future-proofing BC buildings toward net-zero
The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment calls for British Columbia to update its Building Code and Energy Step Code to prohibit new gas connections by 2022 and set deadlines for existing buildings to switch to clean energy. The briefing highlights that buildings cause 12% of the province's greenhouse gas emissions and that natural gas use contributes to health risks, including childhood asthma from indoor nitrogen dioxide and lung disease linked to hydraulic fracturing in the Peace region. It notes that retrofitting a home from gas to electric currently costs over $20,000, making the 'future-proofing' of new buildings a cost-effective necessity to meet the province's goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
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Document type: Briefing
Flood risk and Urban development in Belize City, Belize
The document assesses future climate projections for Belize City using a Weather Generator tool, finding that while June, July, and August may see decreased rainfall and increased temperatures, October and November are projected to experience higher intensity and more variable rainfall. These changes, combined with the city's flat elevation and poor drainage infrastructure, increase the risk of severe flooding and associated health hazards. The study emphasizes the need for updated building codes, better land-use planning, and integrated climate change considerations in infrastructure design to mitigate these risks.
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Document type: Case study
CARIWIG Case Study Report 8
The case study evaluates the PRECIS Regional Climate Model (RCM) and Tropical Storm Model (TSM) to project wind climate trends in Barbados. While the RCM showed some biases in baseline simulations, projections from the aenwh-driven model suggest small increases in mean wind speed and a higher frequency of days exceeding 8 ms-1 by the 2080s. The TSM 'what if' scenarios indicated that Hurricane Katrina would cause the most damage due to the longest persistence of maximum wind speeds. These findings highlight risks to coastal infrastructure, utility plants, and port operations, suggesting a need for updated building codes, extended setback limits, and the restoration of natural buffers like reefs and mangroves.
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Document type: Case study
Economic Assessment of the Impacts of Climate Change in Uganda Briefing Note: Infrastructure in the Kampala Urban Area
The document evaluates the vulnerability of Kampala's infrastructure to climate change, specifically focusing on flooding and temperature increases. It projects a significant rise in annual flood damages by 2050 and estimates the cost of climate-proofing buildings and roads between US$3.3 billion and US$3.7 billion for the period 2015-2050.
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Document type: Briefing
ONTARIO : risques et occasions de la transition mondiale vers la carboneutralité
Ontario is well-positioned for the carbon-neutral transition due to its financial hub status and concentration of clean energy and bio-product companies. However, it faces significant risks, including a high number of vulnerable workers in the manufacturing sector, high public debt, and policy instability. While major investments are occurring in electric vehicle production and steel electrification, the province lacks long-term sectoral policies and a clear carbon-neutral grid strategy, which may hinder large-scale technology adoption and competitiveness compared to other provinces.
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Document type: Report
Enhancing the resilience of Canadian electricity systems for a net zero future
The document analyzes how climate change and the transition to net zero impact the reliability and resilience of Canada's electricity grid. It identifies risks across generation, transmission, and distribution, and proposes solutions such as infrastructure hardening, increasing system flexibility, and updating regulatory frameworks and building codes.
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Document type: Research paper
Renforcer la résilience des réseaux électriques canadiens pour un avenir carboneutre
The document analyzes how climate change and the transition to a carbon-neutral economy threaten the resilience of Canada's electrical grids. It details risks to power generation, transmission, and distribution, while highlighting the danger of 'cascading effects' where power failures disrupt other essential services. The paper proposes mitigation strategies including infrastructure hardening, increasing grid flexibility through energy storage and decentralized resources, and improving energy efficiency. It also identifies systemic obstacles, such as regulatory frameworks that prioritize short-term reliability over long-term resilience and outdated building codes based on historical rather than future climate data.
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Document type: Research paper
Alabama’s Path to an Energy-Efficient Future
The document outlines the environmental and economic benefits of energy efficiency in Alabama, specifically highlighting how policies like energy service contracts and building codes can help the state meet carbon reduction goals and save residents money by 2030.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Arkansas’s Path to an Energy-Efficient Future
The document outlines the economic and environmental benefits of energy efficiency in Arkansas, stating that specific policies could save the state $441 million and avoid 6.4 million tons of CO2 by 2030.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Arizona’s Path to an Energy-Efficient Future
The document outlines the economic and environmental benefits of energy efficiency in Arizona, stating that specific policies could save the state $4.2 billion and avoid 15 million tons of CO2 by 2030.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Colorado’s Path to an Energy-Efficient Future
The fact sheet outlines the economic and environmental benefits of energy efficiency in Colorado, asserting that specific policies could help the state meet its carbon pollution goals under the EPA's Clean Power Plan. It highlights that an annual energy savings target of 1.5%, combined with model building codes and 100 MWs of new combined heat and power, would avoid over 15 million tons of CO2 by 2030. These measures are projected to save Coloradans $1.5 billion and significantly reduce nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions by 2030.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Florida’s Path to an Energy-Efficient Future
The document outlines the economic and environmental benefits of energy efficiency in Florida, asserting that specific policies could save the state $392 million and avoid 18 million tons of CO2 by 2030.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Georgia’s Path to an Energy-Efficient Future
The fact sheet outlines the economic and environmental benefits of energy efficiency in Georgia, asserting that specific policies could save the state $1.9 billion and avoid 12 million tons of CO2 by 2030.
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Document type: Fact sheet