Climate Resilient Infrastructure

Climate-Resilient Infrastructure: Building for a Safer Future

About

Around the world, the impacts of climate change—rising temperatures, shifting patterns of rainfall, more frequent and intense extreme weather, and rising sea levels—are affecting all types of infrastructure, from energy and transport to water, waste, and telecommunications. Climate-resilient infrastructure is designed to withstand and recover quickly from these natural hazards, which are exacerbated by climate change. As disasters like floods, hurricanes, heatwaves, and wildfires become more severe, much of our infrastructure will need to be redesigned and rebuilt for climate resilience.

Problem

The increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters due to climate change pose a significant threat to infrastructure. Traditional infrastructure often lacks the resilience needed to cope with extreme weather events, leading to costly damage, disruptions in services, and threats to human safety. For instance, floods can overwhelm drainage systems, earthquakes can destroy buildings, and heatwaves can strain energy supplies. Without adaptation, these challenges will only intensify, threatening communities and economies worldwide.

Solution

To address these challenges, innovative approaches to climate-resilient infrastructure are needed. These solutions include:

• Flood Management: Utilizing infiltration-based practices, floodplain management, and open space preservation can lower flood risks. Technologies like FloodFrame offer deployable barriers that protect buildings from flood damage.
• Drought Preparedness: Green infrastructure can help replenish groundwater reserves by infiltrating water where it falls, relieving stress on local water supplies and reducing the need for imported potable water. EPA highlights how urban planning incorporating green spaces helps mitigate water scarcity issues.
• Urban Heat Reduction: Planting trees and building green roofs can reduce the urban heat island effect, lowering indoor temperatures and shading building surfaces, thereby reducing energy demands. According to the EPA, the annual mean air temperature of a city with 1 million people or more can be 1.8–5.4°F (1–3°C) warmer than its surroundings. In the evening, the difference can be as high as 22°F (12°C).
• Water Management Efficiency: By reducing rainwater flows into sewer systems, green infrastructure can lower energy consumption related to water management, easing the load on municipal pumping and treatment facilities.
• Coastal Protection: Living shorelines, buffers, wetlands, and dunes can help reduce coastal erosion and storm impacts.
• Earthquake Resilience: Earthquake-resistant structures can absorb and distribute seismic forces, using designs that include redundancy, ductility, and base isolation to prevent collapse. Companies like Kinemetrics specialize in seismic monitoring systems, providing real-time data to help buildings better withstand earthquakes.
• Temperature Resistance: Infrastructure designed to withstand temperature extremes incorporates green roofs, thermal insulation, and strategic ventilation to minimize damage.
• Wind and Hurricane Resistance: Aerodynamic designs, reinforced structures, and secure roofing materials increase resilience to extreme wind events.

Impact

Climate-resilient infrastructure not only saves lives but also reduces costs. Research from the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub found that investments in climate-resilient construction can prevent enough damage to pay for themselves in as little as two years in hazard-prone areas. Other studies have concluded that every dollar invested in resilience can save up to $11 in repair costs over time. By integrating climate resilience into infrastructure planning and design, communities can better withstand natural disasters and recover more swiftly, protecting people, property, and the environment.

Examples

• FloodFrame provides automatic deployable barriers that rise with water levels, offering a discreet solution for flood-prone buildings.
• Ember Defense equips homes and businesses with fire-resistant vents, sprinkler systems, and fire-retardant gels to guard against wildfires.
• Kinemetrics specializes in seismic monitoring systems, providing real-time data to help buildings better withstand earthquakes.
• Arup delivers engineering solutions for resilient urban planning, flood risk management, and infrastructure protection, having developed flood resilience strategies for cities like New York.
• ResilientGrid offers software tools for grid resilience and disaster recovery, ensuring critical infrastructure continues to operate during extreme weather events.
• Miyamoto International uses advanced materials to retrofit buildings, enhancing their seismic resilience and reducing earthquake vulnerability.
• Fortress Protective Buildings constructs disaster-resistant structures that can withstand extreme weather, earthquakes, and other threats.
• JBA Risk Management offers flood modeling services globally, with an emphasis on climate change impacts.
• Fathom uses advanced flood risk data and modeling, including climate change scenarios.
• First Street Foundation provides data and analysis on climate risk, particularly flood risk, to help homeowners, buyers, and real estate professionals understand potential impacts on properties.
• Climate X helps organizations become more resilient to the impacts of climate change by quantifying, at an asset level, the probability and severity of weather events decades before they happen.

One-Minute Call to Action

As climate change continues to reshape our world, the need for climate-resilient infrastructure becomes increasingly urgent. Investing in resilience today will protect our communities and economies tomorrow. We must prioritize innovative solutions that prepare our infrastructure for the challenges ahead. Support companies and policies that champion climate resilience, and advocate for stronger building codes and regulations that prioritize safety and sustainability.

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