By The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet, by Jeff Goodell. Little Brown & Company, New York, 2023. Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World, by John Vaillant. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2023. As I write this, a massive heat dome is
2023 Likely to be Among the Coolest in 20 Years
Despite what a lot of people say, this isn’t the “new normal.” Normal would imply a plateau in conditions—and that’s not likely to happen any time soon.
The Life and Times of a Lifeline: A Further Look at Resilience and Sustainability
The reality is that past history and data on extremes have limited relevance to future possibilities as climate change produces events that are more frequent and intense.
Welcome to the New Reality: Resilience Lessons From the Recent Winter Storms and Atmospheric Rivers
In Buffalo, a ban on driving extended five-and-a-half days in December, forcing residents to stay home—some without power.
Babcock Ranch – A Solar Town Proves Resilient During Hurricane Ian
“I had 5,000 neighbors who were depending upon the promise we had made that it was a resilient community and they could shelter-in-place safely.” Syd Kitson, developer Babcock Ranch
Resilience as “Immune System” in Service to Sustainability
The human immune systems provides an apt analogy for resilience.
Space Weather: Geomagnetic Storms Could Wreak Havoc on the North American Power Grid
A geomagnetic storm as strong as one experienced in 1859, if it occurred today, could destroy thousands of utility transformers and cause power outages lasting months or even years.
The Cascading Impacts of Drought and the Role Resilience Must Play
We need to examine where we build, how we build, and how to protect existing buildings and infrastructure.
Using Our Vehicles for Backup Power: Ford’s F-150 Lightning Heralds a New Age for Resilient Backup Power Systems
The media event on May 19, 2021 introducing the all-electric version of Ford’s iconic F-150 pickup truck was one of the biggest news stories in resilience and back-up power this year. The F-150 Lightning, which will be available in Spring 2022, has an onboard inverter and AC outlets allowing it
What the February Winter Storm Can Teach Us About Resilience – 10 Recommendations
The winter storm last week won’t be the last disaster to strike, and it won’t be the worst. Achieving resilience will depend on understanding the growing vulnerabilities we face and working together to respond to them.
Our Fragile Power Grid
There’s an excellent article in today’s New York Times on the vulnerability of our power grid to climate change.
Portable battery power and resilience
When I was considering buying a portable, battery-powered unit for my cabin I knew that it would have resilience benefits well beyond the cabin.
A Resilient America Service Corps – in the Age of COVID-19
The Resilient America Service Corp would be targeted toward young women and men graduating from high school or college and wanting to do something to better the country and the world.
By Building Resilience 2019: How Cleveland is Leading the Way in Planning for Climate Change
“We designed our way into this problem, we can design our way out.”
– Mark Chambers, Chief Sustainability Officer of New York City, at Building Resilience 2019
Two webinars to help build more resilient organizations
The Resilient Design Institute is cosponsoring two upcoming workshops organized by the organization Built Environment Plus. 1. Boosting Organizational Resilience – April 14, 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm Presented by Dr. Guy Sapirstein Description: In our industry, we think of resilience predominantly as a physical infrastructure issue – passive survivability,
