As the Army makes plans to build climate-resilient installations, it should carefully consider which buildings to invest in, “taking into account installations’ and installation buildings’ vulnerabilities to natural hazards, building characteristics such as age, the importance of installations and specific buildings to the military mission, the costs of different actions, and limited budgets,” according to a recent RAND Army Research Department study.

“Given funding constraints and the increase in threats from natural hazards expected because of climate change, the Army needs quantifiable data to show which installation facility resilience investments make financial sense,” the authors write.

The report studies insurance premium data to understand how to value and prioritize facilities’ resilience against natural hazards.

“Installations need more guidance and support on what natural hazards data to use and how to use it for decision-making,” the report recommends.

Check out the full report.

Army photo by Scott T. Sturkol