Coastal Risk Consulting (CRC) announced a partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to deliver a RiskFootprint™ for buildings, communities and cities that provides a climate risk analysis. The service will integrate with LEED, Arc and GBCI rating systems to help assess a project’s vulnerability to physical climate risks.
New Commercial Real Estate Risk Assessment Technology is Here, Now
Coastal Risk is a leading provider of geospatial modeling, data analytics, and risk assessment technology and advisory services that empowers individuals, businesses, and governments around the world to accelerate climate resilience.
“USGBC’s partnership with Coastal Risk enables us to apply our growing data and technology platforms to help stakeholders gain insights and inform action,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, president & CEO, USGBC. “The integration of RiskFootprint™ with LEED Online and Arc will give any commercial or residential project new tools to assess vulnerability to flooding, storm surge, earthquake, drought, increased rainfall, increasing temperature and other current and future risks.”
Coastal Risk’s President, Albert Slap, said: “Coastal Risk is proud to partner with USGBC to accelerate resilience for residential and commercial properties and public facilities. Our RiskFootprint™ technology provides users with a scientific and comprehensive visualization of current and future physical climate risks, both on a portfolio and individual property level. RiskFootprint™ complements USGBC’s mission to make buildings greener and more sustainable.”
Actionable Insights Towards Implementing Solutions
Coastal Risk’s automated assessments add to a project’s due diligence and risk management. The RiskFootprint™ Dashboard and property-specific RiskFootprint™ Reports are an important part of a rigorous underwriting process and research-driven market analysis. The RiskFootprint™ Dashboard provides customers with a secure web portal, an interactive map of the US, and portfolio spreadsheet scoring for 14 columns of risk. This includes 6 current flood risks, 4 current, natural hazard risks (wind, tornado, earthquake and wildfire), and 4 future (2050) climate change impacts (tidal/sea level rise, extreme heat, extreme rainfall, and risk of drought). Additionally, each property location on the interactive map is “clickable” and brings up a fully quantitative, RiskFootprint™ report.
The detailed, RiskFootprint™ Dashboard and Reports help customers make informed decisions about buying, selling, insuring, and, where needed, implementing cost-effective, measures to mitigate these risks.
“A healthy future is also a resilient and sustainable future,” added Ramanujam. “As we prepare to reopen our spaces and build back our economies, we are working with leaders, like CRC, that are advancing resilience as we build, rebuild and transform our buildings, communities and cities around the world into healthy and resilient spaces.”
Conclusion
REITs, Commercial Real Estate, and Private Equity Firms need three strategies to assess current and future physical climate risks to its existing portfolios and new acquisitions:
- portfolio-level analysis for ESG/TCFD disclosure reporting
- an understanding of the potential capex required to mitigate existing and future flood, natural hazard, and climate risks
- a plan to mitigate risks and accelerate their buildings’ safety, sustainability, and resilience in a changing environment
The starting point is knowing your RiskFootprint™.