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.

HERE4CJ

Philly Climate Works and Green Building United are working together to convene the Housing Equity Repairs and Electrification for Climate Justice (HERE4CJ) working group to explore the opportunities and barriers for healthy home repairs and equitable electrification in Philadelphia.

To achieve scalable solutions that address affordability, health, workforce, and a changing climate, we are bringing together community members, environmental and climate justice leaders, housing rights advocates, building engineers, workforce development partners, CDC implementers, and finance experts to create the case for why electrification + home repairs is critical for the health, environment, and economy of Philadelphians and is an essential anti-displacement strategy. The working group will provide technical research for building electrification, workforce development research and strategies, long-term financing and policy solutions, as well as develop and design pilot projects for analysis and lessons learned.

Climate Resilience Workshops

Green Building United is partnering with Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations (PACDC) to provide community climate resilience workshops. 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. You can view past workshops by clicking the links below.

2020-2021 Demonstration Project

The Passive House Community of Green Building United is excited to collaborate with Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia (Habitat) to further their goal of offering an increased volume of affordable, high performance housing.

Through this project, the Passive House Community will examine Habitat’s high performance designs, collaborate in the field, and linking to the ultimate goal of single family owned, healthy, affordable, high performing row homes.

The Demonstration Project goals are to educate our joint communities and generate an affordable passive house alternative for Habitat using the existing Oxford Green Community Model. There is also future potential to connect “beyond the choir” with Habitat’s partners in the health, real estate, and development sectors.

Sign up for our newsletter to receive Demonstration Project announcements.

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.

If interested in getting involved, please contact Leah Wirgau, Education & Engagement Director.