Beyond Code: New Climate Risk Factsheet Empowers Architects

Site-specific climate hazard projections help you talk resilience—and liability—beyond today’s building codes.

Architects have never had more data—or more liability—at their disposal. Hurricanes intensify, wildfires spread to ZIP codes once considered safe, and heatwaves make yesterday’s “typical summer” look mild. Yet most U.S. jurisdictions still rely on codes drafted for a bygone climate. To design responsibly and protect their practices, architects need risk insights that look decades into the future, not backwards at historical averages.

Enter the Climate Risk Factsheet, a concise, science‑driven report created by global insurance and risk advisor Marsh and now available to AIA members through the AIA Trust. Drawing on high‑resolution climate models, the two‑page PDF delivers forward-looking projections for eight hazards—including wildfire, riverine and pluvial flood, extreme heat, and windstorm—at any set of geographic coordinates in the United States. Results appear as easy‑to‑read risk scores (Low to Extreme) and include perspectives on climate-adjusted hazard impacts across multiple time horizons.

Marsh’s Climate Resilience advisory team notes that the Factsheet bridges the gap between academic climate science and actionable project decisions, giving architects tangible data to share with clients about future hazards and risks — for example, illustrating how changing hurricane patterns could affect the risk-level for a new site set to last beyond 2050.

1. Purchase online via the AIA Trust landing page.
2. Provide site coordinates (latitude and longitude) and basic project/building information.
3. Receive your Climate Risk Factsheet—ready to forward to owners and attach to contracts—within five to seven business days.

1  Proposal differentiator. Attach it to your RFP response to show proactive due diligence and win skeptical owners.

2  Basis of design. Reference the hazard scores in project narratives to justify resilient siting, massing, and envelope choices that go beyond code minima.

3  Contract documentation. Include the Climate Risk Factsheet in client communications or integrated project delivery (IPD) workshops to demonstrate that foreseeable risks were discussed and mitigated.

4  Post‑occupancy roadmap. Pair long‑term hazard data with maintenance schedules so facility managers understand future stressors.

With the debut of the LEED v5 rating system, a Climate Resilience Assessment becomes a prerequisite for most project types. Teams must evaluate site‑specific hazards over the building’s service life and document both risks and mitigation strategies. In addition, several credits—including Integrative Process – Resilience and Assessment & Planning for Resilience—award points for early‑stage hazard analysis and design responses.

The Climate Risk Factsheet delivers data that can be used in conjunction with LEED templates. Example use cases may include:

• Filling out the USGBC Climate Resilience Assessment Template. The Factsheet’s eight‑hazard projections align with the template’s fields for observed, projected, and future threats.

• Provide quantitative evidence (Low to Extreme risk scores across multiple climate scenarios and time steps) to justify resilience measures such as elevated critical systems, enhanced envelope performance, or passive survivability features.

• Embed the PDF as Integrative Process documentation, showing that climate risks were considered before schematic design—exactly what LEED v5 asks for.

• Reduce consultant hours. By outsourcing the modeling to Marsh’s Climate Resilience team, project teams can save time otherwise spent on data gathering and handling complex climate data in-house.

AIA members can purchase the Climate Risk Factsheet at a competitive flat rate of $400.

Members whose liability coverage is placed through Victor Insurance/CNA, a long-standing AIA Trust partner, receive even greater discounts:

• $260 for Victor/CNA-insured members (orders placed in July 2025)
• $300 for Victor/CNA-insured members (outside of July 2025 discount)

This pricing structure reflects the shared investment of Marsh and Victor, Marsh’s leading global managing general underwriter, in reducing climate-related loss and liability. AIA Trust also notes that unlike many similar offerings in the market, pricing for the Climate Risk Factsheet is fully transparent, with no hidden fees or subscription requirements—a rare level of clarity for risk analytics services.

• Building codes lag behind climate science.

• Courts are increasingly expecting architects to account for foreseeable hazards.

• The Climate Risk Factsheet helps document due diligence and resilient decision-making.

Heading to Washington, DC, for AIA’25? Don’t miss the session “Designing for the Future: Climate Risk, Legal Exposure, and a New Tool to Help Architects Lead” on June 6, where Marsh climate specialists will walk through sample Factsheets and answer live questions.

Codes will eventually catch up, but legal expectations already have. Courts increasingly ask whether professionals considered foreseeable climate hazards—not just the ones codified at permit time. With the Climate Risk Factsheet, architects gain both the foresight and the documentation to demonstrate they met their standard of care.

Ready to level‑up your resilience game? Order your Climate Risk Factsheet today and put data‑driven risk management at the heart of your next project.

Questions? Contact aiatrust@aia.org or visit the AIA Trust Climate Factsheet page for more information and sample reports.

Disclaimer: The Climate Risk Factsheet is an informational resource and does not constitute legal advice. Architects should consult their own counsel regarding contractual language and liability exposure.