Insights From The UK Climate Resilience Roadmap: Can Our Built Environment Keep Up?
Climate hazards are intensifying, but it's not just emissions driving the risk. Aging infrastructure and delayed upgrades are leaving our built environment dangerously exposed; data and digital tools are the key to turning vulnerability into resilience. Here's our thoughts following the newly released UK Climate Resilience Roadmap by UK Green Building Council (UKGBC).
The UK Climate Resilience Roadmap, that was launched during London Climate Action Week at the end of June 2025, provides a comprehensive framework to address climate hazards impacting the built environment, including flooding, overheating, storms, drought, and wildfires. Developed by the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC), it emphasizes the urgent need for adaptation and resilience to protect communities, infrastructure, and ecosystems from the increasing risks posed by climate change. The Roadmap serves as a call to action for policymakers, industry professionals, and communities to embed climate resilience into planning, design, and operations, ensuring a sustainable and adaptive built environment.
There are many climate hazards, and they are very regional. The key climate hazards affecting the British Isles, as outlined in the document are:
Flooding caused by fluvial (river), pluvial (surface water), and coastal sources, along with rising sea levels, leads to damage affecting homes, infrastructure, ecosystems, and agriculture.
Increasing heatwaves and urban heat island effects pose risks such as health impacts, reduced productivity, and strain on building systems.
High winds, heavy rainfall, and storm surges can lead to structural damage, flooding, and disruption of critical services.
Water shortages caused by reduced rainfall and higher temperatures impact agriculture, ecosystems, and building foundations, increasing the risk of subsidence.
Hotter, drier conditions increase wildfire risks, threatening lives, buildings, air quality, and natural habitats.
These hazards are interconnected, often compounding their impacts, and pose significant risks to the UK's built environment, economy, and communities. Within all these hazards described above, the main contributor sits with the increase in greenhouse gas emissions that makes extreme weather events more frequent. However there are many interlinkages in cascading events where delayed infrastructure and asset upgrades play a large part. They increase exposure to climate risks by leaving buildings, infrastructure, and systems vulnerable to the intensifying impacts of climate hazards. Here's how:
Aging infrastructure may lack resilience features needed to withstand extreme weather events like flooding, storms, or overheating. Older buildings and systems are often less adaptable to changing climate conditions, such as rising temperatures or increased rainfall intensity.
Without timely upgrades, existing vulnerabilities can worsen over time, leading to more severe damage during climate events. For instance outdated drainage systems may fail during heavy rainfall and cause widespread flooding.
Delayed upgrades result in higher repair and recovery costs after climate-related disasters, as damage becomes more extensive.
Postponing upgrades prevents the integration of modern, climate-resilient technologies and materials, such as flood-resistant barriers or energy-efficient cooling systems.
Disruptions caused by climate hazards can affect businesses, communities, and public services, deepening inequalities and reducing economic productivity.
Proactive upgrades and maintenance are essential to reduce exposure, enhance resilience, and minimize long-term costs associated with climate risks. To be able to proactively upgrade and maintain your buildings or other assets, you need data. Many companies in the industry are taking steps to embrace digitisation and lean methodologies, to reduce waste, be more agile, efficient, communicative and collaborative. In addition, clients are increasingly expecting timely, connected information which serves throughout the construction process and on into the lifecycle of the building post-handover.
Symetri offer a number of services which enable you to understand new digital environments, acquire the necessary new skills and provide impartial advice on trends, technologies, mandates and strategies affecting the construction sector.
With Symetri & Autodesk's technology solutions including the Autodesk Water and Naviate portfolio eg Bimfire, Daylight, HVAC & Plumbing, Landscape, Outdoor, Zero to mention a few, designers can optimise their design decision on environmental factors surrounding the structure and carbon emissions from it from the very start of the project.
Schedule a free Digital Transformation Drop-In session with one of our experts to explore how proactive upgrades, digital tools, and smart maintenance can reduce your climate risk—and add long-term value. Whether you’re just getting started or refining an existing strategy, we’ll help you take the next step.
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