Storm-driven flood waters inundate Boston’s Long Wharf in December 2022. Photo by James Sanna | Banker & Tradesman Staff
Catastrophic flooding. Extreme heat. Flash droughts. Our safest refuge should be our homes – our sanctuaries from the proverbial and literal storms.
But the reality is, many of our homes are not safe. Not by a long shot. As climate disasters become an increasingly common part of our lives in New England, new homes must be built with resilience in mind, or we risk imperiling our residents’ health, safety and well-being.
We also risk the exorbitant costs of recovery: Billion-dollar disasters are steadily on the rise, from just three in 1980 to 22 in 2020. The Biden administration recently announced that federal resources will be available to strengthen building codes, offering a critical, long-overdue opportunity to prioritize construction that can keep us safe and protected for generations to come.
While the well-being of our families and neighbors should be paramount, building homes that can withstand increasingly severe weather will also protect local economies. Failing to build for resilience may keep costs down in the short term, but in the long run families and local governments will pay dearly. Research from MIT found that investments in climate-resilient construction can prevent enough damage to pay for themselves in as little as two years in hazard-prone areas. Other studies have found that every dollar invested in resilience can save up to $11 in repair costs over time.
Safe Buildings Bill Offers a Roadmap
Massachusetts building codes can only be modified every few years – and even then, our state policymakers have failed to update the codes. With extreme weather conditions expected to worsen, there is no time to waste.
As a first step, it is imperative that the Massachusetts legislature gives cities and towns the ability to mandate climate-safe construction. The Climate Safe Buildings bill serves as a lodestar for Massachusetts and a model for building codes across New England. This bill offers a roadmap that includes three vital tenets: leveraging the latest data to better inform flood maps; developing an optional “stretch” resilience code to allow cities and towns to mandate that new construction should exceed basic requirements to build stronger, more resilient buildings; and recalibrating decision-making processes to center safety rather than profit.
Florida’s statewide building code overhaul is a perfect example of how policy change can transform a community’s resilience to future natural disasters. Hurricane Andrew devastated South Florida 30 years ago, destroying more than 63,000 homes. In response, Florida updated its building codes and improved the state’s readiness for climate and weather emergencies.
Yet some experts warn that even these new codes are not strong enough. Given widespread predictions that climate change will induce even stronger and more protracted storms, communities across New England must act now to overhaul outdated building codes and lay the foundation for a safer tomorrow.
Deanna Moran
Investors Can Help
As we work to pass building code reforms, investors and developers should incentivize and pilot voluntary interventions that reward climate-smart decisions. Efforts like the Healthy Neighborhoods Equity Fund offer “patient capital” (investments that can be paid back over longer timetables, often with lower financial return requirements) if the developments meet criteria for protecting residents’ health and building sustainability.
Conservation Law Foundation’s HealthScore screening tool helps provide a blueprint for constructing resilient yet affordable homes, and scores developments for potential positive health, economic, and environmental outcomes. This type of market-testing allows developers to learn about and get comfortable with climate-resilient construction practices in the near term as advocates work toward higher industry standards. HealthScore criteria related to resilience include elevation for flood risk, incorporating white roofs and robust tree canopy to mitigate heat, stormwater management to reduce runoff and decrease flood damage, and operational strategies for emergency preparedness.
It’s time to write a new chapter in New England’s history – one where resilience becomes the cornerstone of construction, where our homes can be the sanctuary they’re meant to be, and where the safety, health, and prosperity of our residents are the guiding force behind our urban planning.
Deanna Moran is vice president of healthy and resilient communities at Conservation Law Foundation.
