In the framework of planning and designing resilient housing under a changing climate, the present study constitutes a comprehensive literature review exploring climate-proofing solutions for the built environment concerning energy supply and water availability. This study delved into a multitude of sources that included scientific papers and reports and European Union guidelines and tools. The identified solutions covered building, urban, and territorial scales. The hazards of interest included heatwaves, heavy precipitation, droughts, earthquakes, wildfires, and storms. Several types of solutions were found (e.g., nature-based, education/capacity-building, engineering/built environment, etc.) with different times of application and timescales of action (e.g., defensive measures, short-term solutions, long-term adaptive, etc.). The maturity of the identified solutions was assessed based on the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) and Societal Readiness Level (SRL). Moreover, each solution’s contribution to climate mitigation was investigated. The solutions were assessed in terms of self-sustainability and other key criteria, namely, effectiveness, contribution to resilience maturity and climate change mitigation, adaptive nature, financing access, risk reduction, and social cohesion. In total, 85 energy and water solutions were determined from the desk review analysis and 67 (30 for the energy sector and 37 for the water sector) solutions were finally retained and proposed.

There is an urgency of planning, designing and retrofitting the Built Environment in order to be adaptable to present and future risks induced by climatic and non-climatic hazards. The assessment of risk and resilience in the Built Environment requires understanding the inseparable relationship between physical spaces and their users across different scales. Key Performance Indicators provide a quantitative approach to assessing risk and resilience, enabling a systematic evaluation of diverse factors within the Built Environment. The MULTICLIMACT Horizon Europe project (GA 101123538) offers innovative solutions across three scales to address these challenges: building, urban, and territorial. Through the development of design practices, materials, technologies, and digital solutions, the project strengthens construction resilience, preparedness, and responsiveness to disruptive events, thereby improving safety and quality of life. Central to this objective is the development of a set of quantitative Key Performance Indicators to assess the level of risk and resilience of AS IS asset condition and future TO BE possible scenarios in the Built Environment. The study, developed within MULTICLIMACT, identifies key factors that influence risk and resilience, including people, buildings, infrastructure, cultural heritage, urban and territorial systems under climate-related and non-climate-related hazards, such as earthquakes. Rooted in international guidelines and standards, and validated through engagement with experts in the Built Environment, the quantitative indicators facilitate comprehensive assessments across various scales, users, and systems to inform policies, strategies, actions, solutions and projects. Key contributions include the identification of quantitative Key Performance Indicators for risk factors—hazard, exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity—and resilience qualities such as robustness, rapidity, resourcefulness, and redundancy. The study also considers resilience dimensions, including environmental, economic, physical, digital, human, and well-being aspects. These indicators address critical gaps in existing frameworks, offering actionable insights for policymakers, designers, and practitioners to evaluate current conditions and envision future scenarios for new developments or regeneration projects. The findings emphasize the importance of holistic approaches that integrate human well-being, environmental sustainability, and cultural preservation into resilience planning and design. This work provides essential tools for quantifying and enhancing resilience, supporting evidence-based decision-making to reduce the level of risks and increase the level of resilience to escalating climatic and non-climatic hazards.

As the built environment continues to face increasing climate challenges – threatening physical and natural assets as well as human health and well-being with significant hazards such as heatwaves, flooding, and drought – targeted adaptation measures are essential to reduce climate impacts, safeguard built assets, and enhance the resilience of buildings, infrastructure, and communities. However, the lack of a systematic collection of adaptation measures and criteria for evaluating their resilience underscores the need for a comprehensive catalogue to support planning and design processes.The MULTICLIMACT (MULTI-faceted CLIMate adaptation ACTions) Horizon Europe project addresses this gap by developing a framework and tool to support public stakeholders and citizens in evaluating the resilience of the built environment and its people at multiple scales (territorial, urban, and building) against natural and climate hazards. The study, conducted within MULTICLIMACT project, introduces a novel catalogue of adaptation measures designed to guide policy-makers and public administrations to the actions they can take to improve the resilience of the built environment. Drawing from the National Adaptation Plans of the four demo sites countries (Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, and Spain), and complemented by additional EU guideline and database, the catalogue is based on the European Environmental Agency’s Key Type of Measures (KTMs) classification. It focuses on Physical and Technological options (KTM C), and Nature-Based Solutions and Ecosystem-based Approaches (KTM D), comprising 44 adaptation measures (27 for KTM C, 17 for KTM D). Each measure is outlined in a factsheet detailing its relevance to climate hazards, processes, functions, benefits, and scale of intervention, while also evaluating resilience contributions across six key dimensions covered by MULTICLIMACT: physical, human health, well-being and quality of life, technical, economic, environmental, and organizational.