Climate Resilient Communities

Green Building United's Climate Resilient Communities initiative seeks to promotes climate justice by assisting communities at the neighborhood level through climate change knowledge exchange and action.

Green Building United does this by addressing both the social and built environments because the effects of climate change and substandard housing disproportionately impact low-income communities. This work includes developing educational opportunities around climate change and resiliency and above-code green building standards.

We are excited to be partnering with Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations (PACDC) around community climate resilience. Workshops have taken place in 2018 and 2019, that gathered urban planners, project managers, developers, community groups, and interested community members to discuss how climate change is impacting Philadelphia communities and what can be done to address impacts at the local level.

Future workshops will be posted on our events page, and you can read more about past years' workshops below.

Worth 5 GBCI CE hours and 5 AIA LU-HSWs

Community Climate Resilience Workshop - Spring 2019

Thu, 5/30/2019 - 9:00am - 2:00pm

The Discovery Center, 3401 Reservoir Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19121

Community Climate Resilience Workshop

Thu, 5/31/2018 - 9:00am - 2:00pm

Penn State at The Navy Yard, 4960 South 12th Street, Building 661, Symposium Room 202, Philadelphia, PA 19112

Demonstration Project

The intent of the Demonstration Project, which began in 2018, was two-fold: to establish the feasibility of renovating existing brick masonry rowhouses to the Passive House standard; and design infill affordable housing to meet the requirements of the Living Building Challenge. Using charrettes and workshops to engage with the design community, participants have learned about opportunities to rethink how we design and build using above code standards as a guide for future development.

Read a recap of the Living Building Challenge Demonstration Project.
The Passive House Community has launched its second Demonstration Project, this time partnering with Habitat for Humanity. See our events page for upcoming charrettes.
The Passive House Community is also developing a Rowhouse Manual based on their previous project. This is slated for release in 2021 so please stay tuned!

New Gravity Housing Conference: Climate Change and the Imperative of High Performance Affordable Housing

The reality of climate change will fundamentally alter the way buildings are designed, built, and operated in the coming decades.

At the same time, the need for quality affordable housing that can withstand increasingly extreme and volatile weather continues to grow. Building healthy, safe, and accessible places to live that will both limit and adapt to climate impacts is a key challenge for the 21st century. This cutting edge conference will explore the tools, techniques, and practices that the building community is using to address this challenge.

GBCI CE hours, AIA LU-HSWs, PHIUS credits pending

2020 New Gravity Housing Conference

Thu, 8/6/2020 - Fri, 8/7/2020

University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL

2020 new gravity website banner collage with logos 1120x430

Exceeding Intent

In partnership with the Sustainable Business Network's GSI Partners, Green Building United published Exceeding Intent, a precedent library of exemplary green stormwater infrastructure designs, systems, and approaches.

The library is a tool to help inform the approval of additional vegetated and innovative stormwater management projects in Philadelphia and is a resource for developers, designers, engineers, elected officials, regulators, and the general public.

Climate Resilient Communities

Green Building United's Climate Resilient Communities initiative seeks to promotes climate justice by assisting communities at the neighborhood level through climate change knowledge exchange and action.