What should housing companies do?

Review your risks and check your insurance policies

One way to get started is to identify the climate risks of your housing company. The risk review should be carried out at the same time as a condition assessment commissioned by the housing company. A climate risk review model compiled by the construction industry guides housing companies in identifying risks and assessing different solutions for preparing for them. Companies offering climate risk review services and other preparedness measures can be found in our list of service providers (in Finnish).

Remember to also check your building company’s insurance policy terms to avoid unexpected costs: Is your housing company insured against various phenomena, and under what conditions? Is the housing company’s liability insurance in order? Icy conditions are becoming more common as winters get warmer, increasing the risk of slipping and falling on the housing company’s property.

Get prepared while doing other renovations

Being prepared is the key right now for a housing company: When your housing company is carrying out a normal renovation project, it is essential to make improvements to prepare for changing weather conditions. These include, for example, implementing or preparing for central cooling in connection with an energy renovation project and increasing any insufficient ventilation gaps in a wall structure during façade renovation works.

The increasing stress from weather conditions will also affect the life cycle of structures. The condition of the property should therefore be monitored more frequently, so that maintenance and necessary repairs can be timed correctly. However, preparedness measures are specific to each housing company, and the options also depend on the nature of the renovation. So find out your housing company’s options and use your next renovations to also become prepared for extreme weather events, so that you can avoid extra costs and unnecessary risks! Check out our list of measures that can be combined with renovation projects.

Greener yard

Adding greenery to housing company’s property is an important tool for preparedness and adaptation, as it prevents several risks at the same time. Yard design that takes into account extreme weather conditions can help cool homes and manage stormwater in a way that improves both the comfort of the yard and the view from the homes. All landscaping has an impact here, but large deciduous trees in particular help absorb and evaporate large quantities of water, preventing flooding and cooling the air. Deciduous trees planted on the sunny sides of the façade give the building shade in the summer, reducing the need for cooling, but they also let light through in winter.

Renovations that require digging up the yard offer a great chance for adding more greenery. Article 16 of the Helsinki Building Regulations stipulates that “As far as possible, yard works must aim at reducing the mass of waterproof areas and at increasing vegetation”. You can find more information on the benefits of climate-proof yard design and the energy advisory service’s ready-to-use templates for tendering for climate-proof yard renovation in the section “Climate-proof yard”. See also our previous article on the subject. (in Finnish)

Learn more about the topic

The Finnish Real Estate Federation has created a comprehensive guide on how to prepare for extreme weather events in housing companies, which you can view here (in Finnish).

HSY has also collected tips and information on its Climateinfo website (in Finnish).