Houston Creates Resiliency Plan

From eSociety, March 2020

The City of Houston now has a resiliency plan. Resilient Houston (PDF), the city’s resilience strategy, was released on February 12, 2020. The plan provides a framework for collective action for every Houstonian: the diverse neighborhoods and watersheds; city departments; and local, regional, and partners. The strategy links existing efforts with new ones that will collectively work to protect Houston against future disasters—from hurricanes to extreme heat waves—and chronic stresses such as aging infrastructure, poor air quality and flooding.

What does that mean to the building industry? When carbon goals such as carbon neutrality by 2050 are included, building energy performance is a critical focus. Energy efficiency will become more and more paramount with increasingly stringent codes. Locating critical infrastructure well above the flood plain, incorporating microgrids and renewable energy, and providing electric car charging are a few resiliency measures. ASHRAE has significant research and information on resiliency. A link to some of this information is below.

https://www.ashrae.org/technical-resources/resilience-activities