Climate Resilient Housing - California Climate and Energy Collaborative

Barrier 1: Climate Resilient Housing

Barrier Statement

There is a lack of resources dedicated to to making homes more wildfire, heat and energy resilient and insurable (e.g. fire resistance materials, backup power/batteries). Aging housing stock, inequitable investments, weak building codes, and limited insurance and workforce capacity leave low-income and vulnerable communities unable to afford or access upgrades that make homes safe from heat, wildfire, and other climate hazards.

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How communities are experiencing this barrier

View the details on what communities have shared with SLECC from across the state.

Key challenge discussed in - San Francisco Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley, Inland Deserts

Low-income and disadvantaged communities face compounding heat vulnerability through a combination of poorly insulated homes without central AC, lack of tree canopy creating heat island conditions, and limited resources to adapt, leaving residents with few cooling options and growing risks of heat illness and poor air quality as extreme heat worsens.

Key challenge discussed in - San Francisco Bay Area, Central Coast, Los Angeles, Statewide

High Upfront Costs Limit Access to Housing Upgrades. High upfront costs prevent low-income, underinsured households—particularly in older buildings—from accessing resilience, cooling, electrification, and electrical upgrades. Incentives often cover only a small share of costs, limiting participation unless programs offer direct-install options or substantially higher cost coverage.

Key challenge discussed in - San Francisco Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley, Los Angeles, Statewide

Aging and Inefficient Housing Stock Increases Climate Risk. Much of California’s housing, especially in disadvantaged communities, is old and in disrepair, lacking cooling, modern wiring, and safety features needed for heat, wildfire, and outages. These conditions raise health risks and increase the cost and complexity of resilience and electrification upgrades for low-income residents.

Key challenge discussed in - Central Coast, Los Angeles, Statewide

Limited Workforce Capacity for Residential Retrofits. Shortages of trained contractors across electrification, cooling, fire-safe retrofits, stormwater systems, and water-wise landscaping delay projects, increase costs, and exacerbate inequities—particularly in rural and under-resourced communities.

Key challenge discussed in - San Francisco Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley, Los Angeles

Residents in climate-vulnerable communities face a growing insurance gap as rising premiums and insurer withdrawal make coverage unaffordable or unavailable, blocking mortgages, discouraging reinvestment, and leaving households unable to rebuild or complete resilience upgrades.

Illustrative Example: Central Valley residents face this gap acutely, with conventional insurance markets failing to meet need in flood and wildfire-exposed communities across the region.

Local Solution Opportunities

SLECC stakeholders have brainstormed the following solution opportunities that can be taken by local leaders. Existing examples of progress or pathways to make further progress are highlighted if known.

Local Solution

Launch retrofit campaigns targeting aging housing stock—focusing on cooling, electrification, and seismic upgrades in heat-vulnerable and wildfire-exposed areas. Local governments can prioritize heat-resilient improvements such as better insulation, reflective surfaces, and energy-efficient cooling systems, while packaging upgrades with no-cost or low-cost options to prevent rent pass-throughs and protect affordability.

Existing Examples of Progress:

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): San Joaquin Valley, Los Angeles, Inland Deserts

Challenge

Illustrative Example: Central Valley residents face this gap acutely, with conventional insurance markets failing to meet need in flood and wildfire-exposed communities across the region.

Existing Examples of Progress:

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): San Francisco Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley, Los Angeles

Local Solution

Community Education and CBO Partnerships for Air Quality and Climate Emergencies. Local governments can work with trusted community-based organizations to deliver air quality emergency communication and resilience education, ensuring vulnerable households receive timely warnings and can access housing and energy resilience resources. Local health districts and CBO partnerships demonstrate effective, community-centered models.

Existing Examples of Progress:

Local health districts and CBOs—such as the Desert Healthcare District—are partnering with schools and growers to implement air quality emergency communication plans and ensure residents are warned during pollution or heat events

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): Inland Deserts, Statewide

State Solution Opportunities

SLECC stakeholders have brainstormed the following solution opportunities that can be taken by state leaders. Existing examples of progress or pathways to make further progress are highlighted if known.

State Solution

The state should deploy direct household resilience retrofit programs funding cooling, electrification, energy resilience, and wildfire-hardening upgrades for low-income households (incorporating cost-containment measures to prevent tenant pass-throughs) and should support locally tailored delivery mechanisms such as doctor-prescribed air purifiers and respiratory health technology for communities facing the worst air quality and heat burdens.

Existing Examples of Progress:

The Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Program (LCI) provides state-level funding for cooling infrastructure and local engagement projects, helping localities develop proactive adaptation measures

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): San Joaquin Valley, Los Angeles, Inland Deserts, Statewide

State Solution

The state should partner with insurers and communities to proactively address resilience planning, affordability, and risk reduction in high-hazard areas, while also supporting communities in establishing governance structures that enable access to innovative insurance tools where conventional markets have failed.

Existing Examples of Progress:

The C-RISE parametric flood insurance pilot in Isleton demonstrated that a community governance structure can successfully administer innovative insurance to close the financial protection gap, producing a replicable toolkit with sustained administrative funding as the primary barrier to replication.

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): San Francisco Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley

State Solution

State-funded neighborhood resilience pilots (tree canopy, cool materials, micro-parks) co-delivered with housing programs; document benefits and scale via guidance.

Existing Examples of Progress:

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): San Joaquin Valley, Los Angeles

Solution Spotlight

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Additional Resources

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