Archinect - News

Weakened North Carolina building codes jeopardized property after Hurricane Helene

2024-10-31T18:27:00-04:00

The long road back for residents of the western North Carolina counties that were heavily impacted due to flooding from Hurricane Helene is still being mapped out, but now the New York Times and other local outlets are reporting on critics who say reforms to the state’s building codes could have exacerbated the scale of property losses.

SB 166, which was passed into law last July, removed a requirement for professional architects to sit on the State Building Code Council. Both it and the related House Bill 488 were supported by the North Carolina Home Builders Association, echoing issues that came to the fore in Kentucky after a string of devastating tornadoes there three years ago.

Compounding the recovery process for homeowners is the fact that most did not own flood insurance policies. The data analytics company CoreLogic has estimated property damage in the area to be worth upwards of $47.5 billion.

ASLA survey finds increased demand for nature-based solutions to climate change among landscape architects

2024-05-31T08:00:00-04:00

The latest survey of landscape architects released Wednesday by the American Society of Landscape Architects includes updated information on incumbent design trends and project valuations, indicating a further shift in priorities nationwide under the looming threat of climate change.

According to the survey, significant (10% or more) increases in the demand for climate-based solutions have been recorded by at least 70% of all respondents. State and local governments are the most common source of demand in terms of clients. Stormwater management and reduced carbon emissions transportation alternatives such as walkability improvements and bicycle infrastructure make up the leading list of solutions, and almost half of those surveyed said their construction costs were more expensive than that of traditional projects.

Comparing these findings to the ASLA's 2021 survey, the most popular solutions for ecosystem degradation, extreme heat, wildfire, flooding, sea-level rise, and drought rem...

Historic flooding shuts down Dubai, Oman

2024-04-18T19:20:00-04:00

CNN is reporting on the chaotic situation in Dubai as record rainfalls this week have nearly incapacitated the metro, making for some unreal scenes at both its airport and city streets after about 10 inches fell in under 24 hours. Lightning and high winds have also caused damage to several structures.

Timelapse of massive storm in Dubai that caused a biblical flood.#DubaiFlooding #dubairain pic.twitter.com/31dhquZNjH
— BlueGreen Planet (@BluesWaltair) April 18, 2024

This is the largest amount of rain the region has received in 75 years. A lack of adequate floor prevention infrastructure has caused Copenhagen to adopt so-called "sponge city" concepts after a similarly devastating 2011 cloudburst event, and engineers and planners in the Middle East region may follow suit as such events are increasing due to climate change.

At least 18 people have been reported killed in the flooding thus far.

NPR on sponge cities, Kongjian Yu, and the future of flood mitigation

2023-10-10T13:46:00-04:00

Almost all of China's medium and large cities are now susceptible to floods. And [Kongjian] Yu says 60% of them experience flooding every year. Extreme weather from climate change is exacerbating the problem. So Yu has been evangelizing a solution he calls "sponge cities." That is, urban landscapes that are softer and purposely designed to absorb more water. Gareth Doherty, an associate professor of landscape architecture at Harvard University, says the concept is revolutionary.

The contributions of Turenscape founder Kongjian Yu to the development of the so-called “Sponge City” concept date to the mid-90s, stemming from a near-death experience in his childhood home of Jinhua. He says that by the end of the decade, roughly 80% of Chinese cities will now be adequately equipped by the measures. However, just under 10% of the country's mid- to large-sized cities had any plans to implement the concept by the start of the year, according to Reuters.

The need for better stormwater strategies has since been proven in New York City and other low-lying American metros, too, with $2.6 billion worth of funding specifically included in the 2021 Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill to combat the problem. Copenhagen is seen as a world leader in the concept after experiencing a tumultuous 2011 cloudburst that led to a two-part system of expanded sewers and over 300 surface catchment projects.

Still, Yu says the reliance on concrete and technological solutions remains a...

NYC's broken flood mitigation strategy comes into focus at a critical time

2023-10-03T17:56:00-04:00

The fallout from last week’s record-breaking rainstorm in New York City is shining a light on local climate mitigation efforts and water infrastructure as the increased threat from flooding becomes a major issue for Mayor Eric Adams’ administration and key city agencies.

A total of seven inches of rain fell throughout the New York metropolitan region in 24 hours Friday, inflicting particular damage to areas built over or adjacent to wetlands and other bodies of water as it overwhelmed the mass transit system and many roadways in every borough.

Beyond the torrent of viral storm footage that spread across social media, Friday’s storm provided a look at the precariousness of different resiliency projects aimed at combatting climate change, including the new Cloudburst Management plan, sewer system upgrades, and greening campaigns. Experts warn this effort could be too disjointed and expensive to make a difference before so-called "once in a hundred year" storms become regular occurrenc...

San Francisco is at dire risk for flooding without water infrastructure upgrades, according to a new report

2023-07-10T14:35:00-04:00

In addition to overall wetter conditions, the study predicts increasingly intense bursts of heavy rain during storms — up to two-thirds wetter by the end of the century — the type of brief torrents that can easily overwhelm sewer systems, swamp cars and cause significant property damage and even loss of life, said Michael Mak, a Pathways water resources engineer.

Mayor London Breed announced a $369 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan a month before the report was made public courtesy of KQED’s public records request. The report indicates a 37% increase in stormwater by the end of the century. Meanwhile, the city’s 3,400-strong stock of aging concrete buildings (a portion of which were actually built after 2000) is also in dire need of mass seismic retrofits, as the USGS says San Francisco faces a 20% risk of a 7.5 magnitude earthquake or higher occurring within the next 30 years.

For San Francisco-related weather and infrastructure news, explore previously reported coverage on Archinect below:

Boston needs a $877 million flood barrier by 2070, according to Arup

2023-06-08T17:21:00-04:00

Arup has recommended enacting a new 1.5-mile-long protective wall following the results of a new study calling for an $877 million flood barrier protecting the central waterfront of Downtown Boston.

The recommendations call for a barrier to be put in place between Christopher Columbus Park and Congress Street in order to protect the city’s commercial, historic, and governmental structures from the devastating effects caused by an anticipated 51-inch rise in sea level that could cause some $3.9 billion in damages by the year 2070.

“It’s a really, really scary report to be honest,” Marc Margulies, principal of Boston-based architecture firm Margulies Perruzzi, told Banker & Tradesman. “Nobody wants to do this. Nobody wants to spend the money on it. But we have to do this.”

Previously on Archinect: Boston architects create a waterfront hotel with permeable ground floor to prepare for sea level rise

The report indicated City Hall could be susceptible to flood damage, which would also dev...

New York City is actually sinking under the weight of its skyscrapers

2023-05-22T13:57:00-04:00

New York City is sinking under the weight of its skyscrapers, new research shows, which could put its population of more than 8 million people at an increased risk of coastal flooding. [...] Researchers estimated the weight of all of New York City’s buildings to be around 842 million tons. But to find the areas more vulnerable to sinking — or, as they call it in more scientific terms, “subsidence” — a key factor to consider was the type of soil beneath the buildings.

A new study authored by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) found the city to be sinking at a rate of between 1 to 2 millimeters per year, while parts of Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island are subsiding at a rate of 2.75 millimeters. This comes at a time when planning officials, architects, and building owners are scrambling to adapt to the shrinking office market accelerated by the pandemic.

The increased flood risk, enhanced by construction densification, is particularly dangerous to coastal cities whose clay-rich soil causes “material softness and ability to flow under pressure,” according to the study.

New AI-powered system uses images of stop signs to capture flooding data

2023-04-20T12:29:00-04:00

A professor from Texas A&M University is developing an AI-infused system to capture flooding data in real-time. The system, developed by professor of construction science Amir Behzadan, uses crowdsourced public images of floods to inform rescue and mitigation efforts.

Behzadan began developing the system in response to the lack of flood data-gathering measures in many neighborhoods around the United States. While flood gauges are operated by the U.S. Geological Survey and local governments, such maps often have limited coverage and do not provide detail on how floodwaters move in urban areas.

“When it comes to disaster impact, there are ‘data deserts’ — large areas in our communities in which we have very little information about the likelihood and extent of damage,” Behzadan explains. “If this data is available, informed decisions can be made about immediate needs like search and rescue, as well as longer-term needs such as debris cleanup, economic recovery efforts, and where insur...

'Tiny house, big impact': Marina Tabassum shares her flat-packed vision with CNN

2023-04-04T14:17:00-04:00

Past Aga Khan Award winner and 2021 Soane Medalist Marina Tabassum was recently featured in a short CNN profile of her ongoing Khudi Bari project in the coastal region of her native Bangladesh.

The concept, which seeks to deliver mobile two-level residential structures to a largely landless population in the heavily flood-prone area, first came about in October of 2018 and was accelerated by a pandemic downturn that ground several of her eponymous studio’s other ongoing projects to a halt.

Tabassum says the bamboo structures (whose name translates to “tiny home” in Bengali) can be easily disassembled and transported elsewhere, relying on steel joints and metal corner braces for structural strength. The design is split into two levels, with the uppermost elevated about six feet above the ground plane to accommodate up to four people in the event of flooding.

Image courtesy Marina Tabassum Architects

According to MTA: “The architecture mimics traditional vernacular language of the Ben...

Snøhetta and Asak Miljøstein create hexagonal pavement system to aid water management

2023-04-04T11:14:00-04:00

Snøhetta has collaborated with Norwegian manufacturer Asak Miljøstein on the design of an outdoor surface to aid water management. Named Asak Flyt, the permeable concrete paver system consists of three hexagonal interlocking unit types that can be combined to “provide landscape architects with another powerful tool for nature-based water management.”

Image credit: HISM, courtesy of Snøhetta

The varying sizes of tiles in the Flyt system create different interlocking spaces between each stone, allowing for greater control over the extent of permeability through the system. The team estimates that their system allows for up to 28% permeability per square meter of water.

Diagram credit: Snøhetta

The varying spaces between the tiles also create what the team calls a “visually exciting expression,” with the intention that the system becomes a design feature in its own right alongside its water management functions.

Diagram credit: Snøhetta

“Permeable surfaces are part of the increasingly nee...

BNIM completes Iowa’s Stanley Museum of Art behind ‘dynamic and kinetic’ brick facade

2023-02-20T10:28:00-05:00

The new Stanley Museum of Art at the University of Iowa has opened fifteen years after historic flooding destroyed the campus’ previous arts destination. Designed by BNIM, the new venue serves as a learning and teaching laboratory for the arts and a hub for the wider campus.

Image credit: Nick Merrick

Externally, the new museum is clad in what the design team describes as a “dynamic and kinetic” facade of dark, warm brick. Complimenting the masonry characteristics of neighboring buildings, the material palette also references the academic and cultural brick masonry buildings of Alvar Aalto, Louis Kahn, and Eero and Eliel Saarinen. Through an alternating composition of texture and finish, the façade changes character due to daily and seasonal changes in sunlight, creating varying levels of reflection and shadow.

Image credit: Nick Merrick

The museum is designed as a rectilinear solid form permeated by interconnected voids, creating what the team calls a “protective and respectful home ...

Denmark is moving forward with a controversial man-made storm barrier in Copenhagen

2023-01-13T14:54:00-05:00

In January 2022, a team of developers, architects and environmental consultants began work on a 50-year project that — if completed — will become one of Denmark's most ambitious and controversial infrastructure schemes to date: A 271-acre man-made peninsula devised to shield its capital, Copenhagen, from rising sea levels. But the multi-million dollar environmental project has drawn vocal criticism — primarily, and somewhat ironically, from those concerned about the climate.

Despite its intent, Copenhageners have lodged multiple unsuccessful attempts at halting Lynetteholm’s construction in the European Parliament and national assembly. The design calls for a linear wall shielding 35,000 new homes that can be bolstered as necessary in what is called a “process landscape.” Environmentalist opponents have answered back with claims of “maladaptation.” It will eventually join a currently under-development modular floating habitation from the Danish studio MAST that will take shape in segments over the coming decade.

Venice installs temporary glass barriers at St Mark’s Basilica to prevent flooding

2022-12-05T11:22:00-05:00

New glass barriers have successfully prevented a high tide from flooding St Mark’s Basilica in Venice for the first time [...] The wall is intended as a temporary solution until work will be carried out to raise the pavement level of St Mark’s Square. Writing on Twitter, tourism councillor Simone Venturini praised the structure and added, 'Now it’s time to accelerate the completion of the MOSE works for definite safety of the square.'

The barriers were enacted after emergency planning officials decided on not to raise the city’s brightly colored MOSE system for aqua alta events under 120cm, leaving the square and Basilica, technically the lowest point in Venice, out to dry at just 64cm (24 inches) above sea level. Mario Piana, the Proto for St. Mark's, is credited with the design of the barriers.

Near-record flooding last month provided an early successful test for both systems, preventing a repeat of the November 2019 near-catastrophe that aged parts of the building “20 years in a day” according to Carlo Alberto Tesserin, the official in charge of historic preservation for the Basilica’s Procuratoria governing body.

Boston rolls out new green infrastructure requirements for public works projects

2022-11-01T14:17:00-04:00

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has announced a new policy mandating the use of small-scale green infrastructure on curb extension projects throughout the city.

A set of five design standards will be introduced to help expand the adaptation and maintenance of the measures with the larger aim of improving pedestrian safety and bolstering climate resilience of the city’s crowded walkways and streetscapes.

“These new design standards will allow the City to continue enhancing our streets as public spaces for everyone,” Boston’s Chief of Streets, Jascha Franklin-Hodge, said in a statement. “These curb extensions help keep our neighborhood safe by slowing cars and making street crossing easier for pedestrians and now they can also benefit our quality of life by providing more green space in our City.”

Boston planners say the policy will eventually lead to the implementation of green infrastructure into large-scale capital projects, combining with its recently-proposed ban on fossil fuels in new ...

Danish-based architecture studio MAST develops 'Land on Water,' a system for floating housing infrastructure

2022-10-21T11:53:00-04:00

Danish maritime architecture practice, MAST, has developed a sustainable floating foundation for building housing and infrastructure atop the water, called “Land on Water.” The project was developed to serve as a solution to increased sea level rise and the growing risks of urban flooding.

Image render © KVANT-1/Courtesy of MAST.

For Land on Water, MAST was joined by construction industry executive Hubert Rhomberg and venture studio FRAGILE. The system consists of modular containers made from reinforced, recycled plastic.

Image: MAST

It was inspired by gabion construction, a method that utilizes mesh cages filled with rubble to create sturdy, low-cost foundations. With Land on Water, the “cages” are filled with locally sourced, upcycled materials that could support the weight of any structure while floating. Materials could be adjusted if weight is added.

Image: MAST

Land on Water also leaves a smaller footprint compared to steel and concrete foundations, which employ toxic anti-fouli...

New York City to implement infrastructure program that would convert public surfaces into floodwater sponges

2022-10-13T13:44:00-04:00

Most of New York City — more than 70% — can’t absorb rain due to all its concrete and pavement. This often leaves water falling from the sky with no place to go, leading to catastrophic and deadly flash floods. These calamities are especially common during cloudbursts, defined as a sudden but brief concentrations of heavy precipitation that typically accompany unusually hot weather, such as summer thunderstorms. Scientists expect the problem to worsen with climate change.

In response, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection has recently proposed an array of stormwater resilience strategies. One such plan is the Cloudburst Management plan, which will utilize a combination of grey infrastructure, such as sewer pipers and underground storage tanks, and green infrastructure, like trees and rain gardens, to absorb, store, and divert stormwater. Public locations, such as playgrounds and basketball courts, would double as temporary holding tanks.

This graphic shows a basketball court that would absorb water through a porous pavement during storms. Image: NYC DEP

This strategy aims to assist the city’s 150-year-old sewer system, which can only handle 1.75 inches of rain per hour. As reported by Gothamist, the technologies used for cloudburst management could handle up to 2.3 inches of hourly rainfall. New York City is funding the initiative with municipal and federal money from the likes of FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Commun...

Building codes saved this Florida town from Hurricane Ian’s ravages

2022-10-03T17:30:00-04:00

Once the storm passed, the sight of Punta Gorda may have surprised some people. While it had typical post-hurricane storm debris, downed trees and several flooded streets, a number of homes and buildings appeared largely intact and many showed only minimal damage to their exteriors. How is it possible that the coastal city wasn’t more devastated by a storm that ranks among the most powerful to ever strike the United States? One major factor, according to some experts, are modern building code

While other southwest Florida communities like Fort Myers were devastated, Punta Gorda, a town of about 20,000, was saved thanks to strident code changes enacted in the wake of 1992’s Hurricane Andrew and Hurricane Charley twelve years later.

“It’s a demonstration that updated building codes really work,” University at Buffalo architecture professor Nicholas Rajkovich told the Post. Stricter structural load continuity, impact-resistant windows, and hurricane shutters are all hallmarks of a so-called “modern” code whose continued absence the AIA warned against earlier in the summer. Florida alone has an estimated $3.7 trillion worth of properties that are susceptible to storm and wind damage, making the need to further adapt lessons offered by the survival of Punta Gorda's Harvard Jolly-restored Charlotte High School imperative in the minds of experts statewide.

Previously on Archinect: The building industry is preventing resiliency efforts in areas increasingly affected by deadly st...

The Army Corps of Engineers reveals initial coastal resiliency plan for New York City

2022-10-03T09:00:00-04:00

The federal government wants to build a massive system of storm surge gates and seawalls to protect the New York harbor region from flooding and has put forth a much-delayed plan that would remake coastal areas from upper Manhattan down to Jamaica Bay. The Army Corps estimates construction on the $52 billion project would begin in 2030 and be complete by 2044. The project must be first approved by federal, state and local officials and funded before any of the work can start.

The New York District, North Atlantic Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released a 569-page report outlining a coastal storm risk management feasibility study. According to The City's Samantha Maldonado, a public comment period will be held through January 6th, 2023, as a means to help "inform the design." Maldonado also reported that the government expects plans to be finalized by 2025.

The Army Corps also released an interactive map that details individual aspects of the initial proposal, which Columbia University climate scientist Paul Gallay said will "set the tone for coastal protection and community viability for decades to come."

"We have a lot more room to advocate for environmental justice communities and truly sustainable solutions than many of the other plans would have allowed for," Victoria Sanders, a research analyst at the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, told the publication. "There is still a long road and a lot of unknowns between now a...

One year after Hurricane Ida, NYC updates its water infrastructure in the hopes of preventing another tragedy

2022-09-02T14:50:00-04:00

New York City is beefing up the effort to prevent a similar tragedy to Hurricane Ida a year removed from the historic storm’s wake of destruction, which left 13 residents dead and hundreds of others permanently displaced.

Mayor Eric Adams was on hand yesterday to showcase newly-installed stormwater infrastructure in the heavily-affected neighborhood of Ozone Park, Queens, in unison with Governor Kathy Hochul and the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. The city is investing some $2.5 billion there in the form of sewer upgrades which will be joined by a similar $454 million initiative targeting historically-flood-prone areas in Brooklyn, Staten Island, and other parts of Central and Southeastern Queens.

That money will all go towards replacing the antiquated, century-old existing system that, combined with the abundance of illegal basement dwellings in the neighborhood, created an untenable situation in September 2021, unable to handle the seven inches of rain that fell i...

Battery Park City gears up for major transformation that will make it more resilient to sea level rise

2022-07-28T13:00:00-04:00

New York’s Battery Park City will soon undergo a series of major resiliency projects that will completely transform the Lower Manhattan coast as the threats of storm surge and sea level rise loom.

Starting in September, after Labor Day, the first phase of the multibillion-dollar Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency (LMCR) Project, led by Battery Park City Authority, is set to break ground. Called the South Battery Park City Resiliency Project (SBPCR), the endeavor will see the creation of a continuous flood barrier from the Museum of Jewish Heritage, through Wagner Park, across Pier A Plaza, and along the northern border of the Historic Battery to an elevated point near Bowling Green Plaza.

South Battery Park City Resiliency Project, site plan. Image: Battery Park City Authority

The project is expected to last two years and, when complete, will feature expansive lawns and gardens; education, community, dining, and programming spaces; public restrooms; and universal access. The projec...

No more broken windows: Rafael Viñoly’s faulty courthouse building is getting worse by the day

2022-02-22T18:00:00-05:00

When it opened in 2008, the loftily named Bronx Hall of Justice was billed as the crown jewel of New York’s court system — the biggest courthouse in the state, sheathed in glass and housing enough courtrooms to handle dozens of criminal and civil cases each day. All these years later, the verdict is that it’s more like a broken-down jalopy.

Numerous problems including flooding, failed fire alarms, shattered glass windows that appear out of nowhere, and floor collapses stemming from a built-over underground stream have befallen the Rafael Viñoly-designed Bronx Hall of Justice for more than a decade. The courthouse building has still not been granted its official certificate of occupancy by the city’s Department of Buildings, although an official with the agency did make it clear the building was safe and that the process will be completed as soon as five “mostly minor” code violations are addressed.

Until then, the DOB has to continue issuing 90-day temporary certificates, the most recent of which expired on New Year’s Eve. The only thing holding up this end of things is a dispute between the federal Office of Court Administration (OCA), which keeps an office in the building, and the city, on whom the OCA claims the sole responsibility for repairs falls.

“Our history with this building goes back to its opening. While i...

AECOM awarded FEMA contract to lead flood-risk response in 17 U.S. states

2022-02-16T17:19:00-05:00

AECOM has announced that its Compass Production and Technical Services Joint Venture (Compass PTS JV) has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide production and technical architectural and engineering services for the Risk Mapping, Assessment, and Planning (RISK MAP) Program.

The contract has a combined program ceiling of $300 million for a one-year base period with four, one-year option years. Compass PTS JV will deliver a range of services related to flood risk analyses, hazard mapping, disaster response, and risk reduction. AECOM will also utilize its engineering and mapping capabilities to provide high-quality local flood hazard and risk data and information at state-level scales.

The contract covers regions that face the most frequent and severe flooding in the country. The states included in the contract’s scope are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Car...

New study predicts that Black communities will be disproportionately impacted by climate change-induced flooding by 2050

2022-02-02T15:11:00-05:00

Black communities will be disproportionately saddled with billions of dollars of losses because of climate change as flooding risks grow in the coming decades, according to research published Monday.

According to U.S. and U.K.-based researchers in a new study within the journal Nature Climate Change, not only will the annual cost of flooding across the U.S. reach $40 billion by 2050, but predominantly Black communities will be the most impacted. The findings were obtained by modeling flood risk through 2050 and mapping this over recent census data focused on race and poverty.

With clear linkages between levels of climate risk and race in the U.S., the study found that by 2050, the top 20 percent of proportionally Black census tracts will have twice the flood risk as the 20 percent of areas with the lowest proportion of Black residents.

New York City announces the multibillion-dollar Financial District and Seaport Climate Resilience Master Plan

2021-12-30T17:54:00-05:00

The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and the Mayor's Office of Climate Resiliency (MOCR) have released the Financial District and Seaport Climate Resilience Master Plan, a framework for comprehensive flood defense infrastructure to fortify Lower Manhattan in response to the increasing threat of climate change.

The plan is projected to cost $5 to $7 billion and will reimagine almost one mile of shoreline from The Battery to the Brooklyn Bridge with a resilient waterfront that can withstand severe coastal storms and rising sea levels. Based on the New York City Panel on Climate Change 90th percentile projections, noted in NYCEDC’s announcement, rising tides by the 2050s are expected to flood the Financial District and Seaport monthly and then daily by the 2080s. In addition, some level of frequent tidal flooding is likely to be seen as early as the 2040s.

The master plan features a multilevel waterfront that extends the shoreline of the East River by up to 200...

Extreme shifts in Lake Michigan water levels due to climate change are putting Chicago at increased risk

2021-10-27T17:33:00-04:00

The Great Lakes are often called the nation’s third coast, and the past five years in the region have been the wettest on record. While the lakes don’t exactly correlate to rising sea levels, Chicago now sits in just as precarious a position as oceanfront cities. Heavier rainfall and more frequent droughts are now causing extreme swings in the water levels of Lake Michigan and the Chicago River, wreaking havoc on the city and prompting urgent action to find a fix.

Climate change is having an increasingly marked effect on Chicago, which sits right along Lake Michigan and is dissected by the Chicago River. CNBC highlights the growing risks the city faces as one that is so vulnerable to its surrounding water bodies. In the winter of 2020, Lake Michigan reached a record high in water level due to intense rains that caused the Chicago River to overflow into downtown. The rainfall was so severe that the city’s system for reversing flooding didn’t work because the water level of the lake was higher than that of the river. Experts say this wasn’t an isolated event.

On the other end of the spectrum, seven years before the storm, the water in Lake Michigan hit a record low due to a prolonged drought. This threatened Chicago’s water supply as well as shipping.

To mitigate the impacts of heightened water levels, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, following the 2020 flooding, installed concrete barriers along parts of Chicago’s shoreline. Additionally, a...

Port cities in Asia most at risk for climate-related flooding according to new data

2021-10-06T17:36:00-04:00

Cities with the worst exposure to coastal flooding in the coming decades are overwhelmingly located in Asia, according to a comprehensive analysis by leading climate scientists, with port cities in India and China particularly vulnerable.

An international team of research scientists from the US OECD and UK’s Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, among others, has found that Asian cities are now disproportionately susceptible to flooding owing to migration patterns and a host of other environmental dangers included in climate change.

Using data projections from the 136 port cities around the world that have populations north of one million people, the report ranked each based on its potential exposure to coastal floods in the 2070s. CNBC has an interactive map of the list’s ten largest Asian urban areas, including Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, and Mumbai, here.

Ida deaths highlight persistent flooding and housing issues in New York City’s low-lying immigrant neighborhoods

2021-09-03T14:50:00-04:00

As the fallout of Hurricane Ida comes into focus in both the Gulf Coast region and the Atlantic Northeast, one area of chronic concern has become ground zero for planning gaps that are increasingly deadly indicators of race and class in cities that number among the most expensive in the world.

The Hollis section of Queens in New York City, where 13 people were tragically killed in the flooding that gripped the city over the night on Wednesday as the unexpectedly intense storm bore down on the region, was particularly hard-hit relative to other neighborhoods in the borough of nearly 2.5 million.

Two people died in the basement of their 183rd Street apartment as storm waters collapsed walls and deluged buildings around Hollis. The neighborhood is prone to flooding and has been the subject of a multibillion-dollar sewage system upgrade that began in 2019 and is still undergoing construction, according to Mayor de Blasio.

Photos:183 Street was devastated by flooding last night. A mothe...

Mayhem in New York City and across the Northeast as Ida causes major infrastructure damage

2021-09-02T12:41:00-04:00

The transit situation on Thursday in New York City remained paralyzed, with service on more than half of the city’s subway lines disrupted, commuter rail lines running limited trains, and Amtrak canceling service on a major corridor.

Wednesday night’s flooding caused New York City to issue a travel ban usually reserved for major winter storm events. The storm also inundated large sections of major highways in Philadelphia and impacted operations at Newark Liberty International Airport.

The New York subway hasn’t seen a test of this magnitude since Hurricane Sandy caused $4.5 billion in damages that were meted out on the system for years.

Watch: The New York area was under a state of emergency on Thursday after the remnants of Hurricane Ida led to at least 14 deaths and disrupted subway service. Across the city, New Yorkers documented the scene as flood waters overwhelmed buses and subways. https://t.co/spVsdgF0XX pic.twitter.com/r2vg2aDRVg
— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 2, 2021

A lot of the upgrades the MTA made after Sandy involved improving signal switches and flood-proofing the subway’s electrical grid.

The LIRR, NJ Transit, and Metro-North systems have all temporarily shut down. I-95 was also af...

Four research projects advancing climate action, from earthen materials to embodied carbon calculators

2021-04-30T09:12:00-04:00

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced the winners of this year’s Upjohn Research Initiative, providing up to $30,000 to four research projects advancing sustainable architecture and design. The four projects demonstrate a variety of approaches to tackling climate change, from carbon-reducing materials and a framework guide for flood mitigation, to adaptive building envelope design and a free embodied carbon calculator.

The Upjohn Research Initiative is awarded by the AIA every year, aiming to provide base funds for research projects that advance the profession’s knowledge and practice. This year’s projects focus on climate mitigation and adaption strategies, with previous years including envelope retrofit guides, 3D-printed formworks, and biophilic learning spaces.

This year’s winners continue the theme of sustainable design. The first project, Adaptive Envelopes for a Changing Climate: Exploring Bistability for Building Envelope Design, seeks to generate desi...