Professor Michael Drescher receives funding to investigate climate change mitigation and adaptation options for residential developments

Wednesday, November 23, 2022

michael dresher
On November 23, the Government of Canada’s Environmental Damages Fund, administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada announced its support for a research project led by Dr. Michael Drescher, Professor in the School of Planning: “Residential development Impact Scorecard for the Environment (RISE) – An assessment tool for carbon stock and greenhouse gas impacts of residential developments”

The project, led by Dr. Michael Drescher, is a cross-faculty collaboration involving University of Waterloo researchers from the Faculties of Environment, Science and Engineering, and includes 16 external partners from municipal government, industry and non-governmental organizations. One of the collaborators is Dr. Dawn Parker in the School of Planning.

The project will investigate how residential developments impact land and water resources, and how this affects urban greenhouse gas emissions. Anticipated outcomes of the project include enhancements to site plan applications and increased sustainability of residential developments. 

“We must solve the housing affordability crisis,” said Dr. Michael Drescher. “But we should not do this by amplifying the climate and biodiversity crises. We can and must do better.”

This project is one of six University of Waterloo projects under this fund advancing climate change science and technology that will help Canadians mitigate and adapt to climate change.

More details can be found in the Government of Canada News Release.