Building tomorrow: Case studies in school district climate resilience

Learn how school leaders and climate experts are implementing climate resilience measures in educational settings.

School districts across the U.S. are increasingly challenged by climate disasters, including extreme heat, wildfires, storms and power outages, that disrupt learning and operations. A 2022 U.S. Government Accountability Office report found that over half of public school districts were in counties that experienced major disasters from 2017 to 2019. These districts accounted for 67% of all students across the U.S., with many of the districts serving disadvantaged communities. Investing in climate resilience planning is essential to safeguard educational access and equity for all students, especially those in the most vulnerable communities.

What is a climate-resilient school?

Climate-resilient schools are designed and operated with the ability to prepare for and recover from adverse climate events while minimizing disruptions and supporting vulnerable communities. Resilient building upgrades focus on climate risk adaptation and mitigation, including by reducing resource use, offsetting energy demands and creating safer, more comfortable indoor environments for students and the community.

Integrating climate resilience into school planning processes

When preparing for climate risks, districts can build on existing planning processes, such as emergency management, long-range facility master plans and even district-level sustainability plans. Effective planning begins with understanding a school's exposure to physical climate risks, which allows schools to prioritize both immediate emergency responses and long-term strategies to protect assets and maintain continuous operations.

Key considerations for schools preparing for climate resilience

1. Identify partners and stakeholders

Collaborate with local government, emergency responders and community groups to ensure efficient disaster responses and maintain operations to serve as safe community spaces. As more communities develop climate resilience plans, it is important to consider how school systems can be integrated into mitigation strategies.

Case study-Hawaiʻi Preparatory Academy's community resilience hub: During a major wildfire in 2021, Hawaiʻi Preparatory Academy (HPA) served as a community shelter. Since then, the school has been an active participant in community resilience planning, collaborating with the town council, emergency responders, business leaders and more. To ensure a fast response time to any future event, HPA invested in enhanced communication networks that link emergency responders directly with each head of school.

2. Assess risk

Understanding immediate and future climate risks to school systems will heavily inform the planning process. In addition to assessing the climate risks, gathering data about a school facility's conditions and community vulnerability are important factors for prioritizing equity when limited resources are available. The Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Assessment Index overlays data from multiple natural hazards with social vulnerability data to provide a quick report of the highest risks per census track.

Additional risk screening and assessment tools are available to enhance the resilience of buildings. These solutions identify specific physical climate risks, quantify the risks with a financial value and provide resilience recommendations.

Case study-Bellingham Public Schools' wildfire preparedness: In response to increasing wildfire smoke events, Bellingham Public Schools district (Washington state) sought and was awarded $300,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency in 2023 to conduct heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system conditions assessments across its 28 facilities to determine infrastructure needs; install indoor and outdoor air quality sensors to monitor smoke conditions in real time; and develop wildfire response plans and training programs to prioritize the health and safety of students and staff.

3. Evaluate solutions and financial impacts

Schools need credible and cost-effective solutions that identify specific climate risks and financial impacts, and guide necessary actions. When budgeting for capital improvements and seeking accurate revenue and expense forecasts, the financial impact of infrastructure upgrades as compared to not taking action is an important consideration in prioritizing investments. Studies have shown that every $1 spent on building retrofits for climate resilience can save $4 in recovery and response costs. Climate Value at Risk (CVaR) analytics can be a tool for quantifying the impact of climate change on a building's long-term performance by identifying the components most at risk, the anticipated upgrade or replacement costs and the costs if no actions are taken. Schools can use these climate-adjusted metrics to prioritize systems replacements with the greatest cumulative positive impact.

Case study-Toronto-based asset prepares for extreme weather events: Recognizing that extreme weather events, including record-breaking rainfalls, were becoming the norm, the real estate firm First Capital REIT, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, proactively used ClimateFirst to identify and quantify the CVaR at a key real estate asset. These insights are now guiding strategic resilience and capital planning to protect the asset's critical systems and components against future extreme events.

Upcoming events and resources

Soon we will be releasing our latest executive briefing on school system climate resilience planning with additional case studies, guidance for developing resilience plans, resources and more! The Center for Green Schools' work on this briefing is generously supported by ClimateFirst.

The Center for Green Schools is hosting a free Planning for Climate Resilience Summit from Sept. 10 to 11 in Austin, Texas. This interactive and intimate workshop will focus on connecting K-12 school district decision-makers with peers, industry experts and key resources to develop, fund and implement climate resilience plans and improvements at their school systems.

Additionally, join us for an upcoming webinar on Aug. 28 titled "Beating the Heat: Preparing Schools for Extreme Heat Resiliency," as school leaders and experts share case studies and solutions for addressing extreme heat impacts to schoolyards, ventilation systems and power systems.

Learn more and register to attend upcoming resilience events

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