Alex Wilson on ecodesign in an age of climate change

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Working to Prevent Climate Change is No Longer Enoug · Oct 1, 5:42pm
via oikos
Working to prevent or slow down climate change should continue to be a
major focus of the building industry, but that is no longer enough,
according to Alex Wilson and Andrea Ward in a new article in
Environmental Building News (EBN). We also need to address how to
adapt our buildings and communities to the impacts of those changes,
which are already underway, they argue in a September 2009 feature
article entitled, "Design for Adaptation: Living in a Climate-Changing
World."

"Even if carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions were to be
somehow turned off tomorrow," Wilson points out, "warming
temperatures, more intense storms, flooding and other impacts of
climate change will continue--and we need to address that in our
design practices."

The EBN article makes the case that climate change is not only
happening, but it is happening at a more rapid rate than even the most
pessimistic climate models predicted just a few years ago.

"The reality of climate change is unequivocal," according to Jonathan
Overpeck, Ph.D., co-director of the Institute of the Environment at
the University of Arizona, who was quoted in the article. He and other
experts interviewed for the article, including Stephen Schneider,
Ph.D., of Stanford University, argue that adaptation to a changing
climate is a high priority today.

The article describes 36 specific strategies for addressing adaptation
to climate change, organized into five major headings. These headings
and a sampling of the specific strategies are listed below:

Warmer temperatures

Design cooling-load-avoidance measures into buildings;
Model energy performance with higher cooling design temperatures;
Plan for termites extending their range to the north;
Drought and water shortages

Plumb buildings for graywater separation;
Plant native, climatically appropriate trees and other vegetation;
More intense storms, flooding and rising sea levels

Expand stormwater management capacity and rely on natural systems;
Design buildings to survive extreme winds;
Specify materials that can survive flooding;
Wildfire

Eliminate gutters or design and maintain them to minimize fire risk
(for wildfire-prone areas);
Avoid vented roofs or protect vents from ember entry (for wildfire-
prone areas);
Power interruptions

Design buildings to maintain passive survivability;
Provide dual-mode operability with high-rise buildings;
Plan and zone communities to maintain functionality without power.
"We are fortunate," says Wilson, "that many of the strategies
available for adapting to climate change offer other benefits, such as
lower building operating costs, better environmental performance and
improved durability."

The article argues that these strategies are also relatively
straightforward and eminently doable. "It makes sense to incorporate
these into our design palette today," concludes the article.