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A new study funded by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) using climate data to predict the cost of maintenance for military facilities threatened by extreme weather events has outlined new approaches for estimating condition loss and reduction of services. The findings, which can be applied to... View full entry
Foster + Partners has unveiled a new resiliency-based master plan for the low-lying Gaafaru Island in the Maldives. The plan addresses the existential crisis posed to the island by climate change, providing "holistic" solutions along multiple fronts where there is a need for a better economic and... View full entry
SCAPE has completed work on the $111 million Living Breakwater coastal resiliency project in Staten Island, New York three years after the start of construction in the borough's Tottenville neighborhood. Per SCAPE: "The project consists primarily of 2,400 linear feet of near-shore... View full entry
The National Endowment for the Humanities has announced that it has awarded a $190,000 competitive grant to the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Fund. The grant comes in the form of the Landmarks of American History and Culture award, which aims to support a series of... View full entry
The White House’s Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) has proposed its first Draft Program Comment aimed at providing federal agencies with alternatives to complying with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. If fully approved and adopted, the recommendations... View full entry
New York City has broken ground on the important new Battery Coastal Resilience project in Lower Manhattan. The critical $200 million component of the city’s larger Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency strategy is meant to protect 12,000 businesses and about 100,000 New Yorkers. It has been... View full entry
Some 400 miles of subway tracks, half of Metro-North’s Hudson Line and several Long Island Rail Road stations are in dire need of upgrades to stave off flooding and other extreme weather exacerbated by climate change, the MTA wrote in a report published on Wednesday.
The report, called the 20-year needs assessment, is a breakdown of the agency’s $1.5 trillion worth of transit infrastructure, and details which equipment planners believe most urgently needs fixing over the next two decades.
— Gothamist
The system, which is now (finally) on a more stable financial track, needs a litany of upgrades over the next two decades, according to the breakdown. A total of 350 of the 493 elevators operated by the MTA will need to be replaced in that timeframe. Another 6,300 rail cars and 100% of all... View full entry
Scientific American has published an opinion piece by the publication’s editors, highlighting the role of building codes in saving “money and lives.” Citing the growing number of “multibillion-dollar disasters” striking the United States, the opinion piece makes the argument that... View full entry
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... View full entry
This Wednesday marked the long-awaited opening of BIG’s planned Stuyvesant Cove Park in Manhattan, marking an end to what was for some a contentious process that drew ire from various community groups on the two-year path towards its eventual completion. Commissioned to be a first-line response... View full entry
UC San Diego has hosted the tallest full-scale seismic building test on an earthquake simulator. The LEVER Architecture-designed 10-story building, made of cross-laminated timber, was tested on what the organizers say is the world’s largest outdoor shake table. Image credit: UC San Diego Jacobs... View full entry
MVRDV has released a series of proposals to respond to rising sea levels in Vancouver. Working as part of a North Creek Collective team, the Dutch firm produced a catalogue of options for adaptive buildings aimed to inspire other coastal cities to “undertake immediate action to adapt to climate... View full entry
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.
— CNN
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... View full entry
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. — Gothamist
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... View full entry
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
— The Washington Post
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... View full entry
