By Coastal New England has run out of places to dump the snow. Roofs are collapsing. Tempers are flaring. Schools have been cancelled so many days that students may be in classes into July.
Adapting to Climate Change: Does Nature Need a Helping Hand?
On our farm I want to do the right thing for the land, and I think that includes not only working to get rid of invasive species but also introducing some more southern species that are not yet common in this area.
How to Make a Hospital Resilient: A Tour of Spaulding Rehab
Spaulding Rehab hospital in Charlestown, MA is designed and built to provide for sheltering in place. A key part of this strategy is the inclusion of screened, operable windows in patient rooms, lounges, offices, and other spaces.
Musing About Food Security as the Snow Swirls Outside
We are reminded, from time to time, just how quickly store shelves can be depleted.
The Most Resilient House in North America
When his house burned down in 2012, Alain Hamel he set out to build a home that would keep his family safe no matter what nature threw at it.
Searching for Optimism in an Age of Climate Change
What inspired me to launch an organization to promote these and other aspects of resilient design, was the recognition that the safety aspects of these strategies might be a stronger motivation to get mainstream America on-board in achieving more sustainable, lower-carbon buildings and communities than simply “doing the right thing.”
How Beavers Are Coming to the Rescue in an Age of Climate Change
“In 2002 we had the worst drought on record. The only places where we had water in natural areas was where we had beaver. Beavers were mitigating the effects of drought and keeping water on the landscape.” Biologist Dr. Glynnis Hood near Edmonton, Alberta
A Dramatic Resiliency Plan to Transform New York City: The BIG U Moves Forward
The first portion of the project was approved by HUD in mid-October, 2014 for $335 million.
How the California Drought Will Affect All of Us
The most important thing we can do to strengthen the resilience of our food systems is to diversity agricultural production.
RDI and our “resilient home” profiled in The Guardian
“I want even climate change deniers to boost the energy performance of their homes. Doing so will keep their families safer during power outages and other disturbances, and it will benefit all of us,” Alex explains.
Do We Need to Shift Gears Post-Election?
Rather than sitting back and waiting for the pendulum to swing back to the left, we need to find more examples of environmental gains that can be achieved in ways that deliver other benefits—in other words, that appeal not just to the left, but across the political spectrum.
Looking to Resilient Design for a Cyclone-Battered Coastal City in India
The devastating cyclone, Hudhud this month in India provides an opportunity to incorporate strategies of passive survivability and resilience in the rebuilding.
By The business implications of sea-level rise along the Atlantic coast, and especially in Delaware
I want us to envision an unfamiliar challenge together. I want us to think about the plans and investments we may need to make.
AAAS Speaks Out on Climate Change
Cover of the March 2014 AAAS report, What We Know A paper by the American Association for the Advancement of Science provides a superb, highly concise, summary of where we stand and what we can do about climate change Being a writer myself—and one who likes to convey complex concepts
The Resilience Imperative in Canada
Adam Auer, the Director of Sustainability for the Cement Association of Canada, has just posted an excellent article, “The Resilience Imperative,” in ReNEW Canada: The Infrastructure Magazine. Adam interviewed me when he was writing the article, and I think he’s done an excellent job at capturing the salient issues. Even
