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Q&A

Affordable Housing & Multifamily

So, you’ve had a climate disaster; what’s next? Programmatic Responses to Extreme Climate Events & Climate Justice

Tuesday, April 18, 2023
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM  
Location: 401 (Hyatt)
CEU Type(s): ASHI, BPI, INTERNACHI, NARI
Portland OR- The heatwave of June 2021 was the deadliest documented natural disaster in Multnomah County’s 200-year history. Following the heat event, the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF) developed a program to connect vulnerable low-income Portlanders with efficient portable heat pumps/cooling devices. The PCEF Heat Response program is reducing heat related risk to vulnerable populations by distributing 15,000 efficient HP/AC units over 5 years. The Heat Response program offers a model for communities seeking to make climate justice and community resiliency part of their local climate policies and programs.

Denver CO- December 30, 2021, the Marshall Fire tore through suburban Denver destroying more than 1000 homes serviced by Xcel Energy in less than three days. Reacting quickly to the disaster, Xcel Energy built a massive rebuilding package serving customers whose homes were destroyed.

This session will discuss the development, deployment, and ongoing successes and challenges of this innovative utility program. It will cover code and beyond code standards in wildfire rebuilds and discuss the strategy used to create incentives for standards that technically didn’t exist yet. In the end, attendees should come away with strategies to react to destructive disasters and advance new construction for their customers.

Learning Objectives:

By attending this session, attendees will:
  • Attendees will learn about how two widely different program approaches addressed extreme climate events across a variety of climates, income ranges, and housing types.
  • Hear about the development, deployment, and ongoing successes and challenges of wildfire recovery programs in suburban Colorado, including code compliance and beyond code standards. Attendees should come away with strategies to react to destructive disasters and advanced replacement construction.
  • Learn how the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund Heat Response program is focused on reducing heat-related risk for vulnerable populations by distributing up to 15,000 efficient portable heat pump/cooling units and serves as a model for other communities seeking to prioritize climate justice and community resiliency in local climate policies and programs.