CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL AND HERE: WHAT TO DO NOW TO PROTECT YOUR BUILDING

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Hurricane or not, we all know that New Yorkers need to get to where they're going. Therefore, condos or co-ops would be wise to partner with a car-sharing company such as Zipcar, Mint or Connect by Hertz.

The Backup Generation

With climate change, the city's energy sector will be exposed twofold. Shifts in thresholds will put new stresses on increasing peak-demand loads. Specifically, the greater number of extreme hot days that are predicted will increase costs of electricity, as the systems are put to the test mostly on hot days.

The power plants themselves are on or near shorelines — because of requirements for water intake and cooling discharges — and they would not be immune to the threat of flooding. The upsurge in costs, and the frequent power outages, make backup generators a necessity. Given these many and varied challenges requiring a collective effort and quick responses to emergency, it would seem prudent for condos and co-ops to link neighbors on a network for all to send alerts and texts.

As energy costs soar, so too will transportation costs and food prices. Agriculture in New York will likely be hit hard, as already summer precipitation is insufficient to fully meet water needs of crops —  and conversely, intense downpours have detrimentally affected them. These occurrences will only increase. A community garden (or roof) wherein to grow your own produce will become a valuable commodity.

A future full of more intense weather opens us up to great risk. There is still time now to plan and implement changes. Looking at new ideas, such as green roofs, is important, but it is equally important not to forget some of the fundamentals of building design. It is easy to get sidetracked on wholesale changes and miss some of the "low hanging fruit" (e.g., are your building's current ventilation and draining systems cost-efficient?).

Climate change discussions are so dry that one can be forgiven for inertia or malaise, but by starting to adapt now, you can reduce the potential economic impact that changes in climate will bring.

Alice Cook is director of sustainability for Time Equities.

Illustration by  Marcellus Hall 

From Habitat May 2012. For more, join our Archive >>