Sheltering from a gathering storm: The costs and benefits of climate resilient shelter

The project Sheltering From a Gathering Storm has generated information on the costs and benefits of climate resilient shelter designs. This information is purposed to contribute to transformative changes necessary to make communities more resilient to future disasters. 

Using cost-benefit analysis, this applied research project has produced outputs that provide insights into both the economic and nonfinancial returns of adaptive, resilient shelter designs that take into consideration hazards such as typhoons, flooding, and temperature increases. The research spans South and Southeast Asia, with a focus on Central Vietnam, Northern India, and Central to Northern Pakistan. ​

Key points from this publication are:​ 

• Resilient housing designs can cost-effectively reduce losses by vulnerable communities due to floods, storms, and high peak daily temperature events.
• Access to affordable resilient housing designs and the funding required to implement them is especially important to the poor and near-poor who have access to land and housing.
• Simple, low-cost design features have been identified through Resilient Housing Design Competitions.
• Qualitative and quantitative analyses of investments in climate resilient designs show high benefit-cost ratios under a range of scenarios.
• Access to affordable financing coupled with awareness and training of builders are the primary barriers vulnerable populations face in accessing climate resilient designs.
• While shelter designs can reduce the impact of extreme storms and floods, the ability to address increases in temperature through shelter design changes alone is limited.