Resilient Design, Is Resilience The New Sustainability?

NEW YORK - Aug. 13, 2020 - PRLog -- When we first hear the word "resilience", we instantly think about the ability to recover quickly and bounce back. In construction industry, resilient design is said to be a well thought design of buildings in order to respond to the natural disasters and manmade disturbances. Considering the impact of natural disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes, building resilience and sustainability has become topics of discussion among various construction professionals.

Sustainable design and resilient design are equally important and have a lot in common, but they are not synonyms to each other. Reducing the environmental footprint of building with sustainable architecture is important as the building sector contributes 40% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The Difference Between Sustainability and Resilient Design

Even though the concept of sustainability has evolved over time, the basic principle is the same which is protecting the environment from the impacts of the human society. On the other hand, a resilient design is meant to protect the human society from the natural calamities to prevent disruption of normal life.

The following table helps in understanding the main priorities of each design. As mentioned earlier, the concept is not equivalent even though there a many overlapping areas and opportunities for synergy.

RESILIENT DESIGN

1. Use multiple energy sources like renewable energy
2. Use multiple water source
3. Passive systems with manual overruns
4. Building designs that withstand disasters
5. Floodplain evaluation for building locations
6. Preventing environmental threats

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

1. Energy savings
2. Production of renewable energy
3. Implementing recycled water systems
4. Local materials
5. Indoor environmental quality
6. Brownfield restoration

Building Design Principles

With the right strategies, sustainability and resilient design can go hand in hand. While analyzing the operating conditions, the design engineers can specify measures that improve both aspects.

A resilient building design must take all the typical conditions, to which the building is exposed, into thorough consideration. The design must meet the structural demands under normal conditions, and also consider the extreme situations that challenge the structural integrity of the building.

To ensure a synergy between resilience and sustainability, the following building design strategies can be followed:

·         Use low carbon input materials - Construction materials like wood, bamboo and masonry can be preferred over materials with high energy footprint.

·         Modular construction – Modularity provides an opportunity for spaces to have multiples spaces, and also help in reducing cost of renovations and retrofitting.

·         Durability and robustness – Creating and implementing durable structures capable of withstanding harsh weathers while maintaining suitable indoor conditions should be promoted.

·         Equipment that use low energy input during construction – Promote energy efficient designs and consider using alternative fuels with lower carbon footprint. Low energy consumption based heavy equipment should be used.