 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
| Creating a superinsulated building envelope is one of the key requirements with passive survivability. I saw this superinsulated home feature when I was in Sweden last year. Photo: Alex Wilson. Click for bigger. (More below.) |
By way of background for those who haven't tracked this issue, here's the thumbnail sketch: In an age with more intense storms, terrorist actions against our energy infrastructure, potential petroleum shortages, and drought, we should be designing homes, apartment buildings, schools, and certain other public-use buildings so that they maintain livable conditions in the event of extended power outages or interruptions in heating fuel or water.
I had initially been proposing passive survivability as a smart design criterion. More recently I've been advocating that we mandate passive survivability through building codes. There are a number of developments along these lines:
Comments
Posted 10/27/08 10:23 AM by Jamie Wolf
Great topic and one that I would like to see grow much as the so called “green” movement has over the past decade. Passive survivability really is part of what I would consider common sense, though deserving of additional attention – build so that maintenance (heating, cooling, water collection, waste removal, repair, etc.) require as little additional resources as possible. That is the kind of place that I want to live in, both in times of plenty and in times of scarcity; safe places of lasting utility and value. - christopher.kowal@gmail.com
Posted 11/4/08 2:41 PM by Christopher Kowal
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I agree that the insurance industry will/should be very interested. When it comes to sustainability and deesignbuilding, while our practice and understanding are advancing, the economic constructs that surround those practices are in desperate need of change too.
Keep us appraised, and involved, in this important work.