Homeowner Priorities for Sustainability and Fire Resilience When Rebuilding Homes after Wildfire

Abstract

After a disaster, homeowners’ rebuilding decisions can reshape the built environment to mitigate hazards and global climate effects. In this study, we explore homeowners’ rebuilding priorities of fire resilience and sustainability, and what influences these priorities. We base this exploration on surveys conducted with over 300 homeowners rebuilding after the 2021 Marshall Fire near Boulder, Colorado. To determine what supports and inhibits the adoption of household sustainability and fire resilience measures for homes, we statistically analyzed survey data on homeowner rebuilding priorities and factors influencing the rebuilding priorities of sustainability and fire resilience. We found that homeowners prioritized cost the most, followed by aesthetics and sustainability, with fire resilience also highly prioritized; those that prioritized sustainability also prioritized fire resilience. However, financial factors did not significantly predict the prioritization of sustainability and fire resilience. We also found that beliefs about climate change and political ideology predicted the prioritization of sustainability, and support for fire resilience policy predicted the prioritization of fire resilience. These results suggest that homeowners consider the priorities of fire resilience and sustainability as related and indicate synergies that could be exploited if the most highly prioritized rebuilding priorities are combined.