Climate-Resilient Real Estate: Innovative Alliance by Two Climate-Tech Startups

GUELPH, ON and SAN FRANCISCO, March 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - ClimateCheck and ClimateFirst are pleased to announce a first-of-its-kind partnership to enable commercial real estate (CRE) stakeholders to assess financial risk due to climate change. The new comprehensive approach includes Climate Value at Risk (CVaR) analysis to determine the value of assets that could be damaged or destroyed as a result of climate-driven disaster and recommends property resilience measures. 

Together, the leading climate-tech startups are offering a unified and actionable solution to empower real estate stakeholders — including owners, investors, and asset managers — to manage climate risks effectively and promptly. Leveraging the combined expertise of both platforms, clients gain access to comprehensive climate-risk assessments and transform challenges into opportunities for building asset resilience.

The new dual solution benefits from a blend of climate and building science: ClimateCheck identifies property-specific climate hazard risk and ClimateFirst assigns a value to each risk and delivers a comprehensive mitigation plan.

"We provide our clients with granular information about the risk of climate hazards to their property. Through our partnership with ClimateFirst, our clients can now also gain insight into the material financial impact of climate-driven disasters such as wildfire or flood. This enables them to prioritize the highest need and value property resilience measures, empowering them to protect their bottom line," said ClimateCheck CEO Cal Inman.  

To produce a CVaR report for a commercial property, ClimateFirst inputs ClimateCheck climate risk analysis and information from the property's Building Condition Assessment into ClimateFirst's proprietary CVaR model, which uses AI to calculate the asset value at risk for the individual property. From there, ClimateFirst also determines highest-value property resilience measures for the property in question.

"The solution must match the problem's scale," said Mike Williams, ClimateFirst's co-founder and Vice President at RWDI, a leading climate and performance engineering firm. "While on-site engineering assessments set the standard, it's impractical to assess every building individually. Only AI and tech can fill this void — at a very feasible price point."

Despite the daunting nature of the challenge, both co-founders underscore positive opportunities for CRE stakeholders that take a proactive approach to climate risk adaptation as well as climate change mitigation.

"We have the capacity to alter our trajectory and mitigate the worst effects of climate change," said Inman. "Our innovative solutions and commitment to data-sharing reflect our dedication to fostering a safer and more resilient future for everyone."

ClimateCheck is a climate risk data provider that empowers businesses to identify, manage, and mitigate the impact of extreme weather events on their real estate portfolios.

ClimateFirst Building Solutions is climate-risk analysis software that provides credible Climate Value at Risks (CVaR) assessments and was developed by RWDI, world leaders in climate science and building-performance engineering.

Related links:
Climatecheck.com
ClimateFirst.net
RWDI.com

SOURCE ClimateFirst