By 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
The old way: build a wall. The new way: work with nature.
A nice illustration of the difference between old and new approaches to resilient design: In flood-prone Holland, the old approach was just: build a wall. The new approach is: work with nature, not against it, where you can. For centuries dikes (and natural dunes where they exist) have provided the
Brattleboro event: Lessons from Germany’s Energy Transition
In 2000 Germany set a goal of achieving 20 percent renewable electricity production by 2020. At that time they were at 3 percent. Now, just 12 years later, they are already at 25 percent. How is Germany transitioning to a renewable energy economy so quickly? Long-time renewable energy advocate Bob
Re-imagining Manhattan
You might have missed this in your holiday busy-ness, as we did: In December, Atlantic Cities reported on a project by a team of architect and planners from the University of Michigan to rethink Manhattan in the light of the clear danger of damage from future versions of Hurricane Sandy: From
Artificial reefs for tsunami protection
In Sumatra, new methods are under development to protect cities from tsunamis: “It uses the concept of cathode accretion–putting a small electrical charge in the water that draws calcium carbonate (the stuff reefs are made of) out of solution and onto an iron-based skeleton. The calcium slowly accumulates, creating an
RDI Advisory Board member David Orr was quoted recently in the New York Times on the topic of ergonomic seating in school classroooms. While classroom chairs may not represent mainstream resilient design, it’s a good example of the need to rethink how everything is designed in response to the challenges
Good neighbors make resilience
In an NPR interview, sociologist Eric Klinenberg reminds us that resilience involves not only smartly designed systems, buildings and infrastructure (our focus here at RDI). It’s also about the quality of communities and neighborhoods. “Vibrant, tight-knit neighborhoods could fare better in a disaster.” Interview is based on Klinenberg’s article “Adaptation”
Kunstler’s calamities
If James Howard Kunstler’s predictions for 2013 (warning: salty-language) turn out to be right, we are going to need lots of resilient design to cope with the impacts. The peak-oil prophet lays out his case for calamities that include a market crash to Dow 4000, massive US gasoline shortages, continued Midwest drought,
Nice post about RDI at GLUMAC
Resilient design is scalable. It applies to individual building systems as well as to districts, cities and regions. Like sustainable design, resilient design can be best defined by a desired outcome rather than by a set of design strategies or features. — From an excellent post about resilient design by
RDI discussed at Greenbuild
EcoHome Magazine reports on Alex Wilsons talk about RDI at the Vision 2020 session at Greenbuild
RDI intro at Environmental Building News
Alex Wilson introduced RDI at Environmental Building News: For the past seven years—ever since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast—I have devoted considerable time to the related ideas of resilience and passive survivability. I have increasingly come to believe that resilience can become a leading driver of sustainability, and I’m
