The Queensland Government has released a comprehensive assessment exploring the implications of climate change for the state.

The Queensland State Heatwave Risk Assessment 2019 features long-term climate change projects and includes an assessment of the impact that heatwaves will have on the state’s building stock, essential infrastructure, transport infrastructure and water and sewage.

The assessment found the extreme heatwaves and bushfires across Queensland in 2018–2019 were an indication that the state is facing unprecedented challenges in understanding and responding to the impacts of natural hazards in a changing climate. Analysis also noted that the building guidelines in Australia use historical analysis of climatic conditions to determine the energy demand of a building and to determine appropriate levels of energy efficiency. Is proposed that these guidelines do not allow for variation in design based on local climatological conditions and are likely to be significantly inadequate for future climatic conditions

Adaption strategies recommended in the report include:

• Essential Infrastructure: Adapt existing infrastructure and plan any new infrastructure to take into account extreme heatwaves and long-term projection of future climatic impacts.
• Building Design & Urban Planning: Incorporate the QDesign principles within building design and urban planning to improve mitigation of heatwave impacts and general wellbeing
• Green Infrastructure: Plan and invest in green infrastructure to reduce the impact of future heat increases
• Building stock: Features for new buildings and methods of retrofitting existing structures may help to increase resilience of building stock and subsequently building occupants.
• Public buildings: Encourage the installation of solar panels to offset the cost of air conditioning, especially in public buildings where primary use often occurs during the daylight hours

More information here