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A RESILIENT THOUGHT By: Tom Reynolds, PE, Silman
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efore I started to write this article, I actually Googled “Can you write an article in the first person?” The results were mixed; most said it depends on the editor or the tone of the publication. Well, this publication encourages free thinking, deep thought, and new and exciting ways to approach a challenge (in my humble opinion). I’m going for it – I think it makes for a compelling story. I’m sitting on the train as I write this, returning from a day trip to Washington, D.C. About two hours ago, I sent my nine-year-old son a picture of the U.S. Capitol Building. My first thought as I took the picture (aside from observing the police barriers surrounding it at street level) was that it is set way up high from the ground level. The setting of the building on its perch led me to think about how resilient the structure would be during a major climate event (I’m an “enginerd” – we like this stuff). Juxtapose that siting with the ever-present need for designers to create buildings that serve the public’s need and can withstand the effects of a permanently evolving climate and you have one potential solution to a serious problem. The problem is the word “resiliency;” it’s become a buzzword in the AEC industry, but its significance is much greater. Designing for resilience is a real and important part of the approach to any new and existing structures, especially in the coastal and low-lying areas of the Northeast. Climate events, not just past but in the very near future, have caused and will continue to cause flooding and major damage in coastal and inland areas throughout New York State. The example I’m going to
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present likely isn’t the first or last time you’ll read about a solution of this kind, but it may prove unique and adaptable to similar challenges. Complex problems often have straightforward solutions. I’m a huge fan of the K.I.S.S (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle - it was one of the first things that Robert Silman, founder of the firm I work for, taught me. I find that frequently the easiest solutions can solve the greatest number of problems and are often cost effective and buildable. The siting of new and existing buildings has become a key part of the process, especially considering the ever-changing building code-prescribed flood elevations embedded in current design standards. One way to make an existing structure adaptable to climate change, or develop a new building, is to raise it. When you start from scratch at the beginning of the design process, this can be a simpler part of the process; you can build the building on stilts or work with landscape architects and civil engineers to raise the building grade above the design flood elevation. What do you do if it’s an existing building? What do you do if the current ground-floor slab is multiple feet below the code-prescribed design flood elevation? You raise it. Raising an existing building isn’t a new concept—a stroll around Breezy Point in Queens or through any neighborhood on the east end of Long Island would showcase many existing and in-construction residences raised above the current design flood elevation, most likely out of necessity after the effects of Hurricane Sandy in 2012. What about raising a public building, with an existing concrete joist-framed roof and an existing
