Little Falls, New Jersey resident Sean Mathews has developed a low-cost solution for protecting equipment from flood damage, and he wants to see more homeowners have access to it.
By Alex Wilson
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Fundamentals of Resilient Design: Dry Floodproofing
While implementing various measures to keep floodwater out of a building may seem like a no-brainer, there are actually some very significant limitations and risks.
Teaching the Duck to Fly – Timing Electrical Demand to Renewable Supply
Orienting panels to the west to catch the setting sun—at the time usage peaks—might make solar power more valuable even if less total electricity would be generated.
Municipal Governments Working to Make Their Cities More Resilient
I came away optimistic that the attendees in the room weren’t going to simply sit by and wait for action; they were going to make it happen.
Fundamentals of Resilient Design: Wet Floodproofing
Letting floodwaters into a building is an important resilience measure, but it has to be done in a way that prevents damage.
California’s Continuing Water Woes Call for Creative Solutions
“Right now the state has only about one year of water supply left in its reservoirs, and our strategic backup supply, groundwater, is rapidly disappearing.” -Jay Famiglietti, Ph.D., NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Engineering Our Way Out of Global Warming: Is Climate Intervention a Global Warming Solution That Republicans Will Get Behind?
I am all for carbon-capture—both the research needed to better understand it and the implementation of strategies that employ it. But albedo modification (enhanced solar reflectivity) is a different story.
Views on resilient design by some leading architects
There’s a nice discussion about resilient design in Metal Architecture magazine that was just posted. It features Robin Guenther, FAIA of Perkins + Will; Greg Mella, FAIA of SmithGroup; Robin Minnery, the new staff leader on resilience issues at the American Institute of Architects; Jeffrey Dugan, AIA of Dattner Architects;
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.
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.”
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.
Colleges and Universities Can be Models of Resilience
Earlier this year I gave a presentation at a regional conference of the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) on how college and university campuses can become resilience hubs. I was recently asked for information on this topic, so decided to upload my presentation so that it can be
By Resilient Design: Not as mainstream as we’d like
As part of its monthly tracking how the architectural firms are faring, in its latest survey the American Institute of Architects queried members about their resilient design practices. Since “resilient design” is a concept that’s not yet the kind of household word that “sustainability” has become, we’re encouraged at the number
New Public Safety Building in Salt Lake City a Model of Resilience
The Salt Lake City Public Safety Building is designed to maintain functionality during and following the most severe earthquake foreseen.
By Architecture for Humanity
Here’s word of another conference taking up the resiliency theme: On November 7-9th, 2013, your favorite humanitarian design and resiliency conference presented by Architecture for Humanity is back for another round of innovative panel discussions, workshops, Design Open Mic, and inspiring dose of industry networking. This year’s theme, Designing for a More
