From Climate Risk to Financial Value: How FSP Strengthens Health and Resilience

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Written By Janelle Decarreau

Fitwel® ★ ★

200 West Madison, Chicago, USA | Image Courtesy of Bentall Kenedy

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Insights from the Center for Active Design Experts

While climate change is on many of our minds throughout the year, Climate Week NYC–the largest of its kind–puts it at the forefront of global attention. The week brings together business executives, government representatives, and real estate leaders to discuss and collaborate on solutions to today’s most urgent climate issues. This year’s focus on communities, biodiversity, resilience, and finance highlights the intersection of environmental and human health. By examining the links between ecosystems, human communities, and resilience, we can better understand climate change as a public health issue–and direct its implications for financial risks. 

Accounting for Health in Resilience Planning

Understanding how climate change impacts human health provides property owners with essential, highly material information as they plan to protect their assets and the people who occupy them. Risks, and the resilience measures needed to address them, vary by location: some assets contend with the sweltering heat of urban environments, while others face wildfire exposure or severe flooding. For these reasons, local biodiversity, human health, and resilience are interconnected. These risks carry significant financial implications. For example, over the past several years, severe heat has increased building operating costs and contributed to higher rates of hospitalizations. Fortunately, heat mitigation measures can be both health-positive and a good financial investment . Strategies such as green roofs, street trees, and shading, can lead to significant energy and financial savings that when scaled up, amount to billions of dollars. Beyond greening, the use of high-albedo surfaces can be even more effective in contributing to neighborhood cooling and reducing on-site energy costs. In short, what benefits the financial health of owners and operators also safeguards occupant well-being and strengthens community and environmental health – a true win/win/win scenario, demonstrated repeatedly across diverse resilience strategies. 

This is where Fitwel’s FSP certification becomes a critical tool. FSP evaluates community, climate resilience, and biodiversity, with health and financial value at its core. The pathway tracks six targeted outcomes:

  1. Environmental Quality

  2. Climate Resilience

  3. Stakeholder Engagement 

  4. Equity

  5. Active Transportation

  6. Biophilic Design 


Performance is measured against evidence-based strategies, allowing assets and portfolios to mitigate risk while tracking progress over time. Strong performance across the FSP strategies drives climate health, occupant health, and financial value–outcomes validated by Fitwel’s extensive research library and team of research advisors. What was  once perceived as an “extra” initiative, is now recognized as a key driver of financial performance of companies and  long term asset resilience.

Kayne Anderson Leads the Way in Healthy Resilience Planning

Earlier this month, Grace Dickinson, Director of Applied Research at Center for Active Design, spoke with Amanda Nunnink, Senior Managing Director of Multifamily at Kayne Anderson, about implementing FSP within their affordable housing portfolio. Amanda shared insights on  the intersection of climate, health, and financial value within the multifamily sector. As an early FSP adopter, Kayne Anderson shared on-the-ground perspectives on the risks and trends they face, and how FSP supported both certification and documentation needs. Validating research findings, Amanda noted, “At Kayne Anderson, across our portfolio, we view climate risk as financial risk, and we treat it as such.” She also mentioned that as investors in multifamily rental housing, “[we] have a dual commitment, a commitment to the physical resiliency of the assets themselves, but also the resiliency of the residents that live in our communities.” This approach has contributed to tenant retention and NOI rates well above market averages–demonstrating that investments in climate and health yield tangible business benefits.

Amanda also highlighted FSP’s role in enhancing reporting, particularly given the “lack of social benchmarks” that capture not just physical metrics like energy, water, and waste, but also human-centered factors like health programming, financial reporting, and community engagement. All of these strategies build resilience, promote occupant health, and drive financial value for owners and operators. Looking ahead to 2026, Kayne Anderson aims to continue expanding their impact through FSP to “pursue and uncover ways that we can help to meet and drive industry standards.” FSP certification, which qualifies for GRESB credit, provides portfolio managers with a structured tool to push their entities forward in mitigating climate, health, and financial risk. For more information on FSP, click here, and if you’re interested in hearing more of Grace’s conversation with Amanda, you can watch Fitwel’s webinar, Powering Resilience, here.

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Janelle Decarreau
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