(C01) Scenario Planning for Climate Adaptive Design

If a building designed today will be in use for the next 100 years, can the design team anticipate how infrastructure and operations will be impacted by a changing climate? Architecture and engineering professionals are well-positioned to use climate projection data to inform design, but despite widely available sources of these data, standard design practice still includes a reliance on historical weather data for design decisions such as performance analysis and system sizing. In this session, HGA and the University of Minnesota’s Climate Adaptation Partnership (MCAP) will present the results of an original research study on the current state of climate projection data use in the A&E industry and opportunities to advance climate resilience services and expertise. Most readily available climate data is not well-suited for immediate A&E applications, so how can design teams prepare their clients for future conditions? Industry best practice must shift toward designing for uncertainty - considering a range of plausible futures when making design and operations decisions. HGA, MCAP, and the University of Minnesota Center for Sustainable Building Research (CSBR) will lead attendees through a mini-charrette to demonstrate how scenario planning can be integrated in the design process no matter what resolution of climate projection data is available for a particular project site. Participants will leave this session with an understanding of how scenario planning and available climate projection data can inform their design process to better protect their projects for a changing climate.