Sea-level Rise, Storm Surges, and Delaware’s Resilience Challenge (with a Sandy update)

Update Note, October 30, 2012 With Post-tropical Cyclone Sandy still whirling around somewhere to my west, the article below feels prescient.  It wasn’t of course – there was no advance knowledge of this particular storm – but what just happened with Sandy is well in line with climate change trends.

Fundamentals of Resilient Design #9: Building Strong Communities

In this ninth installment of my ten-part series on resilient design fundamentals, I’m focusing beyond individual buildings to the community scale. Following a natural disaster or other problem that results in widespread power outages or interruptions in vehicle access or fuel supplies, people need to work together. We saw that

Fundamentals of Resilient Design #8: Water in a Drought-Prone Era

Periodic drought is something that a significant portion of the U.S. will have to get used to in the coming decades. Climate scientists tell us that while precipitation will increase overall with climate change, certain regions, including the American West, will see increased frequency of drought. I certainly saw that

Fundamentals of Resilient Design #7: Renewable Energy Systems for Emergency Use

House location and design are the starting points in achieving resilience—with such considerations as where the house located, how well it can weather storms and flooding, and how effectively it retains heat and utilizes passive solar for heating and daylighting. Beyond that, we should look to renewable energy systems for

Fundamentals of Resilient Design #4: Dramatically Better Building Envelopes

When most people think about resilience—resilience during a storm, for example—they think only about resilience during the event. How effectively will the building withstand strong winds or flooding? Equally important, if not more important, is resilience in the aftermath of that event. Hurricanes, ice storms, blizzards, wildfires, tornadoes, and other