This project had its genesis in a Barwon South West region climate change adaptation workshop in early 2016. The discussion around building resilience in the community to climate change morphed into Tim’s mind as a need to make buildings resilient. An article about the concept was published in Design Matters National News in March of that year and then presented to the Liveable Cities Conference in June 2016.

It became a reality when an application to the Virtual Centre for Climate Change Innovation grant scheme awarded the project $300k to implement and measure the results of ensuring community members with health vulnerabilities are safe in their houses during the more extreme weather events we expect will become more frequent.

The lead organization is Geelong Sustainability with assistance from partners, being CSIRO, City of Greater Geelong, EcoMaster and Uniting. Assessment of 16 houses was completed just before Covid 19 delayed the installation activities. Installations are now under way. Some very valuable lessons have already occurred and more will be recorded as health monitoring continues.