Understanding Resilient Construction

The climate crisis we’re currently facing demands urgent measures. As weather events become more frequent and harsh, this raises an important challenge for urban planning, engineering and construction. Resilient construction comes as a path that’s drawing attention within the industry. Let’s explore what this movement is all about.

Some of the most important risks that construction must take in consideration are tornadoes, hurricanes, drought and even earthquakes.

The diversity among them makes it tricky to come up with universal solutions, so each case must be analyzed separately in order to implement the corresponding technology. Resilient construction comes as this ability to absorb or avoid specific damages without suffering total destruction, and it involves all the process, from design to deconstruction.

The concept of resilience was born within the field of engineering, but it soon proved to be applicable in many other fields. It consists in acknowledging the particular vulnerabilities in each case in order to come up with the most useful solutions that will prevent and meet these needs. 

It’s important to consider that resilient construction is not a linear path, it must take in consideration technical, organization, social and economic aspects.

In this sense, we can say that resilient construction can provide a more comprehensive approach than other green trends. Some of the measures that are being taken in resilient projects are the use of low carbon materials, energy optimization by highly insulated envelopes and design that provides maximum daylight, flexible buildings that allow multiple uses, the use of local materials to reduce transportation expenses and project plans that opt for manual labor over oil-fueled machines, reducing the carbon footprint and providing benefits for the community.

Resilient construction is a term that englobes many diverse strategies focused on meeting the challenges of the future. If this is correctly and widely applied, we’ll see buildings, landscapes and communities that are able to face disasters, mitigate climate change and reduce their carbon footprint.

Have you worked with resilient construction? Please share your opinions with us, we’d love to know them!

An Overview of Resilient Construction for Natural Disaster Mitigation, Klaus Philipsen, Smartcities Dive
Building Resilience: Resilient Residential Construction, National Association of Home Builders
Resilient Construction Is the Future of the Industry. Here’s Why, Risk & Insurance