Reshaping Architecture for Climate Change: 6 Concepts
The creation of new buildings generates 39% of global carbon dioxide emissions every year. This gas traps solar energy in the atmosphere and heats the planet, making construction one of the biggest contributing agents to climate change. Unfortunately, the effects of this change are too detrimental to ignore.
Each year, hurricanes, floods, tsunamis and forest fires ravage the planet, destroying everything in their path. The resulting devastation costs millions of people their homes and countries billions of dollars in repairs.
This human cost will only increase if developers continue to turn a blind eye to the deteriorating environment. Thus, architects face an immense responsibility to design structures to mitigate climate change. These groundbreaking concepts include structures that are both sustainable and resilient.
1. Wet Floodproofing
image © pixabay
In New York, flooding is the second-costliest natural disaster. Between 1960 and 2014, every county in the state suffered at least one flood, all of which caused an immense amount of damage to properties and buildings. Now, architects are seeking to combat these destructive floods by wet floodproofing.
This approach allows floodwater to enter without causing damage. To accomplish this, architects use water-resistant materials to protect mechanical equipment and firmly anchor the structure into the ground. Openings also allow the floodwater to escape without knocking anything down in the process.
2. Imagine Boston 2030
image © pixabay
Architects are taking design to the next level by creating flood-resistant cities. Imagine Boston 2030 is a vision that will protect the city's 47 miles of shoreline by increasing open space along the waterfront. This access will better protect Boston during a flood by allowing water to cover green spaces.
Meanwhile, designers will elevate the city and its buildings so that floodwaters may not reach them. The plan also features a floodwall system, elevated transport corridors and flood-resistant buildings.
3. Wind-Resistant Garage Doors
image © unsplash
Homes must resist more than floods if the effects of climate change continue to worsen. In 2017, there were 10 hurricanes, matching a 124-year-old record. Consequently, places like South Florida require different elements of homes to be hurricane resistant — like garage doors.
These entrances must be able to withstand a certain wind speed, depending on location. To meet this demand, architects created more resilient doors to meet windcode rating systems, making it less likely residents will suffer damages to their homes, vehicles and belongings.
4. Circular Homes
image © pixabay
Through innovative design, architects are developing homes to be more wind-resistant. These structures feature a circular design that allows strong winds to flow around its walls instead of putting pressure on a single side.
A sloped roof also minimizes the wind's effects, keeping the structure and everything under it secure in the face of storms. Plus, laminated windows featuring synthetic inner sheets prevent the glass from shattering. Already, these homes have withstood category five cyclones, including Hurricane Michael and Bahaman Hurricane Dorian.
5. LO-TEK Design
image © pixabay
Other architects are looking to minimize the need for industrial-level construction by implementing LO-TEK design. This concept takes inspiration from indigenous tribal communities that build their own structures and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Some of these systems and structures, like Indonesia's Mahagiri rice terraces, have survived for a thousand years. Similarly, the Khasi peoples' living root bridge has persisted for centuries. Even though the design is simple, these all-natural man-made cities and structures can withstand the test of time — and climate change.
6. Zero Energy Design
The popularity of net-zero energy has prompted designers to find new ways to heat, cool and power homes. These innovations may include passive solar, thermal mass, heat pumps, added insulation, natural ventilation and other energy-saving techniques.
Eco-friendly resources allow the home to gain, maintain and store renewable power effectively. This zero-energy design may have been costly to implement before, but the concept is steadily gaining popularity as the cost of renewables plummet.
When Ignorance Isn’t Bliss
Even if humans were to stop releasing carbon dioxide at this very moment, the earth would still suffer the effects of global warming for hundreds of years to come. However, this shouldn't stop people, architects in particular, from mitigating the problem.
If humanity doesn't reduce its emissions, it'll have more significant consequences to reckon with in the future. Extreme weather events will become more frequent, destroying communities, ecosystems and entire cities in the process.
The time to act is now, and what better place to start than with industrialization. Through the eco-friendly construction of buildings and a reshaping of architectural standards and ideas, humanity can begin to reverse the damage it's wrought on the earth. Maybe, one day, the planet will thrive again.
Author: Dylan Bartlett
cover image © pixabay
