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Climate Resilience Building Case Study

Boston is already experiencing climate change impacts including more extreme heat, rain, snow and flooding events; the frequency and severity of which are forecasted to intensify.

In 2016, the City launched Climate Ready Boston to advance resiliency practices and prepare for future impacts of climate change. Climate Ready Boston is fully integrated with Imagine Boston 2030, a citywide plan to guide Boston toward a more affordable, equitable, connected, and resilient future.

The Boston Resilient Building Case Study focuses on the critical practices identified in the Climate Ready Boston framework. Projects in Charlestown, East Boston, and South Boston feature responses to sea level rise and coastal flooding threats. Roxbury is committed to new high performance buildings; projects feature zero energy and energy positive performance. The case study projects include a hospital, commercial office, mixed-use residential buildings, and small multifamily residential buildings. The intent is to illustrate emerging and exemplary mitigation and climate change adaptation in Boston. Solutions range from building, site, and district scale strategies. Each selected project exceeds the basic requirement for raised first floor, energy saving, and landscape design.