Vol. 19, Issue 01 2021
A better built environment for the changing environment Designing for resiliency amid the inevitable impacts of climate change
Above: Wellmark Corporate Headquarters — Photographer, Steve Hall
The infrastructure of our towns and cities — buildings, homes, roadways, land use — makes up what we know as the built environment. These human-made environments are where we often live and work, and they strongly influence how we behave and feel and can even affect our physical and mental well-being. Designing, planning, and engineering these spaces is becoming increasingly complex as we work to mitigate the effects of climate change. The good news is, as designers, planners, and engineers, we also have the unique opportunity to actively work toward modifying the built environment to withstand, and even offset, the impacts of climate change. To do that, it’s helpful to first start with an exploration of how we got to where we are today.
The Basics: Weather vs. Climate Before looking at how our built environments must change, it’s helpful to get a basic understanding of what we mean when we say climate change. People sometimes confuse the terms weather and climate, and while they may seem similar on the surface, they describe two very different aspects of the atmospheric environment. Weather refers to the day-to-day variability of our atmosphere. And as anyone who’s traveled from one state to another will tell you, the weather can vary greatly from place to place. It can change over minutes, hours, days, and weeks.
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