In Boston, two recent reports, one on the impact of climate change, and the other on planning for future development, provoked a hard look at the wisdom of building in increasingly flood-prone areas.
The planning report, “Imagine Boston 2030,” identifies five priority growth areas in the metro area. Four of the five growth areas, including the booming Seaport District in South Boston, are extremely vulnerable to flooding according to the other report, “Climate Ready Boston.”
Stephen Gray, assistant professor of urban design at Harvard Graduate School of Design, and a cochairman for Boston’s 100 Resilient Cities Resilience Collaborative, points out the contradiction in an opinion column in the Boston Globe. He asks: “How and where we decide to grow will have immeasurable economic and social consequences, so why would we intentionally grow in parts of the city that we know to be extremely vulnerable to flooding?”
He points out that in the Seaport construction permits “continue to be approved so long as buildings have floodable first floors and utilities on the roof. By this measure, the city maintains that floodable buildings are a viable solution, even if the streets around them could eventually be ankle deep in mud and water depending on the tide.” Coastal cities around the world are faced with similar dilemmas concerning where best to encourage new development in the face of rising sea levels induced by climate change, and where best to invest in flood mitigation infrastructure.
Related Stories
| Apr 17, 2013
LEED 2009 quarterly interpretations, addenda now available
Quarterly interpretations and addenda to the LEED 2009 rating systems and reference guides are now available.
| Apr 17, 2013
DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley Lab researchers developing new indoor air pollution standards
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) researchers are working on new building standards after discovering previously unknown indoor air pollutants.
| Apr 16, 2013
RMJM acquired by Duthus Investments for £12 million
Sir Fraser Morrison, the owner and chairman of architect RMJM, is the backer behind the investment firm that bought RMJM for £11m in late March.
| Apr 10, 2013
ASHRAE publishes second edition to HVAC manual for healthcare facilities
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has published a second edition of its “HVAC Design Manual for Hospitals and Clinics.”
| Apr 10, 2013
Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute accredited by ANSI as standards developer
The Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute (CRSI) was recently accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as an ANSI Accredited Standards Developer (ASD).
| Apr 10, 2013
DOD should continue LEED-Silver or equivalent rating standard, says NRC
The Department of Defense should continue to require that its new buildings or major renovations to facilities be designed to achieve a LEED-Silver or equivalent rating, says a new report from the National Research Council.
| Apr 10, 2013
EPA proposes emissions rules affecting light construction vehicles
The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed air-pollution standards that it says will reduce the amount of sulfur in U.S. gasoline by two-thirds and impose fleet-wide pollution limits on new vehicles.
| Apr 10, 2013
New skyscraper designs raising the bar on green standards
Though most new skyscraper designs have a traditional look, they are including a wider array of sustainable elements to use energy and water more efficiently and improve human health.
| Apr 5, 2013
Lack of national standards on design of bioterror labs creates higher risk for accidents, panel says
U.S. labs that conduct research on bioterror germs such as anthrax are at risk for accidents because they do not have uniform design and operation standards, according to a Congressional investigative group.
| Apr 5, 2013
Builders Hardware Manuf. Assn. revises three standards for hinges, locks, and latches
The Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association (BHMA) released three new revisions to the ANSI/BHMA standardsfor hinges, interconnected locks, and sliding and folding hardware.
