Extreme Weather Threats to Affordable Housing: SAHF Portfolio Climate Risk Assessment

Extreme weather and other climate events are no longer a distant threat — it’s a growing and immediate challenge for the affordable housing sector. Across the country, Stewards for Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF) members are seeing a rise in extreme weather events and their ripple effects: property damage, power outages, rising insurance costs and disruptions to the health and safety of residents.

The risk is significant. More than 17 million affordable housing units are in areas projected to face substantial loss from environmental hazards. For SAHF and its members, understanding and addressing these climate risks is both a financial and moral imperative — essential to preserving affordable homes and protecting the communities who live in them.

To support resilience planning, SAHF conducted a comprehensive risk assessment across our members’ portfolios, using free and nationally available tools from FEMA, NOAA and the Environmental Defense Fund. The analysis examined both property-level and resident vulnerability, identifying top hazards such as extreme heat, flooding, tornadoes, and strong winds. This work builds on our peer-reviewed paper, Navigating Climate Risks in Affordable Housing, presented at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) 2024 Summer Study. The paper focuses on practical and accessible climate risk tools to help affordable housing providers understand their exposure and plan for the future,

One of the most concerning findings: the number of days above 90°F is projected to increase dramatically across SAHF member portfolios within the next decade. This trend will have serious implications for resident health, energy use, and building performance, especially in communities already facing systemic disadvantage.

SAHF’s assessment makes the case for targeted, proactive action. We recommend both portfolio-wide and site-specific strategies, from upgrading cooling infrastructure to strengthening flood resilience and emergency preparedness. Just as importantly, the report calls for consistent standards, funding and policy support to scale these solutions across the sector.

To help the affordable housing field take action, SAHF has also developed a suite of tools that make it easier to navigate and respond to climate risks. These resources are designed to be accessible, practical and adaptable to portfolios of different sizes:

• The Storm is Already Here: Climate and Extreme Weather Threats to Affordable Housing – Understanding risks and turning findings into policy and practice based on the SAHF Portfolio Climate Risk Assessment.
• SAHF’s Process for Assessing Climate Risk for Individual Properties and Small Portfolios – A step-by-step guide designed for portfolios of 20 properties or fewer
• Accessing Climate Risk of an Individual Property – A walk-through example using publicly available dat

We’re proud to contribute to this forward-looking work and grateful to our team and former SAHF interns, Andreana Chou and Madison Pasche, for their contributions.

We encourage you to share these resources with your networks as we continue working toward healthier, more resilient homes for all.