Understanding Your Home's Climate Risk: A Guide for Homeowners

As climate change accelerates, understanding environmental risks to your home is no longer a luxury but a necessity. As extreme weather events become more frequent and intense, many homeowners are unprepared for the long-term risks these events pose. Real estate platforms like Redfin and Zillow are starting to fill this gap. Recently, Zillow and First Street announced a new tool to help buyers and sellers check a home's climate risk, adding to the growing list of resources designed to inform property owners about environmental hazards.

Other websites offer similar tools, for example Redfin offers a tool that shows climate risks by ZIP code using data from First Street Foundation, ClimateCheck and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. These platforms simplify complex data into easy-to-read results that can give homeowners a quick overview of climate risks in their region. However, reducing detailed climate data to a single value often ignores the nuances that could be crucial to making informed decisions.

The good news is that many of the tools used by these platforms are directly available to consumers, along with other, more comprehensive resources that offer deeper insights. Here's how to use these tools to better understand the climate risks to your home and take steps to protect your property.

The growing need for climate risk awareness

Over the last decade, natural disasters have caused billions of dollars in damages, and this trend shows no signs of slowing. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. experienced 23 different weather and climate disasters worth billions of dollars in 2023 alone. While many homeowners are aware of the risks associated with living in flood plains or wildfire-prone areas, few understand how climate change could increase these threats in ways that make traditional assumptions about risk obsolete.

As more tools become available to assess these risks, homeowners can and should take steps to better understand them.

Climate risk assessment tools

Several online platforms provide valuable climate risk data to help homeowners assess the risks their homes face. Here are a few that may serve as a guide:

1. Climate check: This tool provides detailed data on how climate change could affect specific properties. It breaks down risks like extreme heat, drought, fire and flood and gives an overall rating for each property. For example, homes in Alexandria, Virginia are inspected for flood risk, heat risk and other vulnerabilities, which can be helpful to current and future homeowners in the area.
2. The US Climate Vulnerability Index: This resource is particularly useful for marginalized communities. It maps climate risks across different neighborhoods while taking environmental justice into account by highlighting areas of increased vulnerability due to systemic inequalities. If you live in an area already prone to flooding, heat waves, or industrial pollution, this tool can help you better understand your community's specific risks.
3. US Climate Resilience Toolkit: For those seeking more practical planning, the US Climate Resilience Toolkit offers a “Steps to Resilience” guide to help users assess their exposure to climate risks and develop action plans to mitigate them. This resource is valuable not only for homeowners, but also for community organizers and local governments seeking to improve regional preparedness.
4. Environmental Justice Atlas: For those concerned about pollution and environmental justice, the EJAtlas is an excellent resource for understanding broader environmental risks that can impact your home. It highlights instances of pollution, deforestation and other threats on a regional scale and helps you assess whether major environmental problems are affecting your property.

Understand your insurance and financial risks

One of the most important considerations for homeowners is how climate risk impacts their financial security, particularly when it comes to property insurance. Many standard homeowners insurance policies do not cover certain types of climate-related damage such as flooding, leaving residents facing huge out-of-pocket costs following disasters.

A 2022 report by the First Street Foundation found that approximately 14.6 million properties in the U.S. are at significant risk of flooding, which is not reflected in FEMA's current flood maps. This is mainly because the maps are outdated due to climate change – according to an interview the administrator admitted Smithsonian Magazine. They were used to account for river and atmospheric flooding, not historic rainfall and rapidly intensifying storms like Milton.

To protect your home, make sure your insurance coverage is up to date and accurately reflects the potential risks your property faces. In addition, depending on your region, you should consider additional insurance such as flood or forest fire insurance.

Take steps to protect your property

Knowing your risks is just the first step. Once you have assessed the threats facing your home, it is important to take concrete steps to mitigate them. Here are a few recommendations:

1. Add value to your home and your important systems: If you live in a flood-prone area, elevating your home or important systems such as HVAC units can reduce the likelihood of water damage.
2. Invest in fire-resistant landscaping: If there is a risk of wildfires on your property, consider fire-safe landscaping – use high-moisture plants and create defensible space around your home.
3. Improve energy efficiency: Climate change is not only leading to more extreme weather, but also longer heat waves. Installing energy-efficient windows, better insulation, and upgrading to a more efficient cooling system can help protect against the financial burden of extreme temperatures.
4. Check local building codes: Many municipalities are updating building codes to reflect new climate realities. Ensuring that any renovations or repairs you make comply with these regulations can both protect your home and potentially reduce your insurance premiums.

Planning for a resilient future

No matter where you live, climate risk planning is now a crucial part of homeownership. Fortunately, a growing selection of tools and resources can help you understand the threats your property faces and take steps to mitigate them. Platforms like ClimateCheck and the US Climate Resilience Toolkit provide key risk assessment insights, while insurance considerations and home improvements can help protect your investment.

Although these tools are an important start, your climate risk planning should be an ongoing process. Stay informed about new developments in your area, get involved in local resilience initiatives, and consider working with community groups to develop a more comprehensive, sustainable plan for your home and neighborhood. Taking these steps now can ensure your home is not only protected, but also resilient in the face of an increasingly uncertain climate future.