Rebuilding Greener? Green Building Diffusion after Extreme Weather Events

As climate change intensifies, extreme weather events increasingly threaten communities and infrastructure. These shocks can act as a form of creative destruction, generating opportunities for sustainable reconstruction, while also reshaping risk perceptions and influencing investment in green technologies. This paper empirically examines how natural disasters and weather extremes affect the diffusion of green buildings across the United States. Using a panel data set of buildings certified under the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program at the city level from 2000 to 2020, we find that major flooding events increase the number of LEED-certified buildings within three to six years. Hurricanes initially reduce green building development, followed by a rebound in later years. We also find that extreme hot days are associated with increased green building adoption, whereas the effects of cold days and moderately hot days are limited and less consistent. These response patterns are driven primarily by private buildings rather than public properties. Overall, our findings highlight the heterogeneous and dynamic ways in which climate shocks shape green building adoption and provide insights for policymakers and planners seeking to promote sustainable urban development in a changing climate.