Page 6 - Green Builder's Resilient Housing Design Guide 2018

READY FOR

ANYTHING

To become resilient, we must build for worst-case scenarios.
A LL BETS ARE OFF with regard to the extreme Probability of a Flood Exceeding

weather threats of the future. That’s more or
less what FEMA now says about its “best guess”
the n-Year Flood Level
tools for determining the probability of floods
During a Given Period of Time
and other major disruptors.
As an example, look at the list of exceptions
they make to the inset graph predicting how
likely it is that floods will exceed expectations:
“FIRMS (flood insurance rate maps) do not account for the following:
■ Shoreline erosion, wetland loss, subsidence and relative sea level rise
■ Upland development or topographic changes
■ Degradation or settlement of levees and floodwalls
■ Changes in storm climatology (frequency and severity)
■ The effects of multiple storm events
Thus, what was once an accurate depiction of the 100-year
floodplain and flood elevations may no longer be so.”
Assuming FEMA, NASA, the Pentagon and thousands of scientists
worldwide are right about the side effects of impending climate
change, what’s the best preemptive strategy for building and
designing the homes and cities of the future?

REDUNDANT ENGINEERING
The airline industry considers redundancy one of the best tools Note: this analysis assumes no shoreline erosion, and no increase in
for preventing disasters. Hydraulic systems, for example, are often sea level or strom frequency/severity over time).
duplicated—or even triplicated—to ensure that if one fails, another
takes over. Why can’t housing be designed with the same principles as a fail-safe against storms, wildfire, earthquakes and flooding.
in mind? Simply elevating a home in a flood zone, for example, won’t be the
Some methods and systems in modern construction already rely only measure taken against flooding. It may also contain advanced
on redundant systems. Roofing underlayment, for example, plays systems for surviving prolonged sea level rise, tsunamis and other
a backup role to shingles or tiles. In well-built custom homes and threats. And if living spaces are breached, lower floors will be made
factory-built modular panels, fasteners sometimes serve as backup to of materials that can be easily cleaned, perhaps with high-pressure
the adhesive that connects drywall to frame. washing equipment that’s already part of the home’s infrastructure.
The homes and cities of the future will take redundancy for granted, Future homes will be “ready for anything.”

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