ER89 Climate change adaptation of buildings in New Zealand – research prioritisation assessment (2024)

The types of buildings and climate change effects in New Zealand are varied, and the impacts of climate change on the industry and communities are unquantified. Successful adaptation to climate change will require its impacts to be understood and quantified. This research builds on the pilot study Understanding how future New Zealand buildings may need to adapt in light of climate change, which investigated the effect that increasing wind speeds would have on the design of light timber framed buildings.

The wide range of buildings and climate impacts now need to be prioritised in order to focus future research needed to understand the overall impact of climate change on building design in New Zealand. This focus is needed to generate useful knowledge in a timely fashion for policy makers and the building industry. This project scoped and prioritised the required research so that a clear plan can be developed that can take in to account research capacities and end-user urgency.