High tide and storm-whipped seas flooded Long Wharf with water from Boston Harbor on Dec. 23, 2022. Photo by James Sanna | Banker & Tradesman Staff

A $250,000 contribution from CBT Architects will enable the Boston Society for Architecture to expand its studies of climate change and its effects on Greater Boston real estate and disadvantaged populations.

The funding will expand the BSA’s innovation practice over the next five years, sponsoring multiple studies of how design can maximize sustainability.

“Climate change and equity are two of the biggest challenges we face, and design can play a critical role,” BSA Executive Director Eric White said.

While the contest is expected to attract proposals from Boston’s architectural community, the BSA is casting a wider net in opening the competition to all, including for-profit groups, local architectural schools and community members.

The competition also is open to people with no design experience: the BSA said its staff will match successful applicants with experienced architects. The competition is not limited to local applicants, although studies are required to address climate change issues in Greater Boston.

A BSA selection committee will review proposals, which are due Jan. 20.

CBT Architects issued the $250,000 donation as an “urgent call” to the BSA’s 4,500 members to focus on climate change and equity initiatives, President David Nagahiro said.

“It’s the one group that binds us all together as architects,” Nagahiro said.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu spotlighted potential flooding in East Boston and the effects on minority communities in announcing a planned updated municipal harbor plan for the neighborhood in February.

The climate initiative reflects the BSA’s increasing focus on environmental equity, including the disproportionate effects of climate change upon disadvantaged populations, White said.