Climate-Related Risk Playbook for Building Owners – Apartment Buildings

REALPAC is pleased to release the Climate-Related Risk Playbook for Building Owners – Apartment Buildings, developed in collaboration with REALPAC members, the Canada Green Building Council, and JLL Canada, with support from Natural Resources Canada. Designed to offer practical guidance, this playbook helps asset and investment managers navigate both physical and transition climate risks.

Canada’s purpose-built apartment sector is supported by strong long-term demand, making climate-related risk management increasingly important for owners and investors. To remain competitive, apartment assets must improve energy performance, reduce emissions, and strengthen resilience to extreme weather, while addressing the operational and retrofit challenges of older buildings, centralized building systems, and limited tenant control over some energy uses. Effective decarbonization therefore requires careful capital planning, targeted upgrades to core building systems, and proactive climate risk assessment to protect long-term asset value.

This playbook is structured around three key areas:

• Introduction
• Financials
• Technology & Operations

In addition to the Apartment playbook, REALPAC has also released playbooks for the Office, Retail, and Industrial sectors. The four playbooks examine regulations, portfolio- and asset-level decision-making, and financial implications. They also provide guidance on carbon transition planning, emissions reduction prioritization, and physical climate risk assessment and planning, including resilience considerations related to extreme weather events.

Together, the playbooks support more informed, data-driven decision-making as the sector advances toward a lower-carbon, more climate-resilient future.