Climate change should influence building codes, says "expert"

Climate change should influence building codes, says expert

REGINA -- With climate change expected to cause stormier weather, can homes and buildings in Saskatchewan take the heat, heavy snow or devastating winds?

In an address at a recent meeting of provincial ministers responsible for local government in Halifax, Gordon McBean, a leading climate expert in Canada, suggested that building codes that are largely set federally or provincially need to be updated.

"These building codes are designed for the weather of the past as opposed to the weather of the future," the University of Western Ontario professor said in a phone interview.

Building codes were designed on the basis of the climate norms for
the past 30 years but do not address the changing weather of the
future, said MacBean. More extreme weather events are expected, which
may mean heavy rain events and flash flooding for some Canadian
communities or tornadoes in the Prairies.