Adapt: Climate Change and the Built Environment

Jessica Mederson and Mónika Serrano speak with Alison Sant, author of the book From the Ground Up: Local Efforts to Create Resilient Cities. They discuss how empowered local communities have created and led valuable efforts towards climate adaptation. From small, actionable steps to large-scale collective efforts, our conversation with Alison highlights stories of communities overcoming challenges, building strength, and fostering hope. From New Orleans to Minnesota and across the United States, this episode emphasizes the importance of collaboration, grassroots initiatives, and incremental progress in creating a resilient and thriving future for all.

Our listeners get 20% off the book From the Ground Up: Local Efforts to Create Resilient Cities with the code GROUND.

Episode links:

Alison Sant

The Power Broker book

Parking Day

34th Avenue story

Minneapolis Bicycling

NYTimes: Congestion pricing NYC

Mónika Serrano and Jessica Mederson talk to Greg Lindsey of Alpha Geo to explore how investors evaluate risks and opportunities in the face of climate change and climate migration. We also discuss public versus private investments, what the money follows, and the challenges individuals and communities face when considering climate migration.

Topics and resources discussed include:

AlphaGeo: AI-Powered Geospatial Predictive Analytics

Columbia University Managed Retreat Conference

The People Fleeing Climate Disasters Are Going To Transform the American South | Portside

NJDEP| Blue Acres | Blue Acres

What Is a Minsky Moment? Definition, Causes, History, and Examples

Column | Climate change is transforming homeownership in the U.S. - Washington Post

1 in 10 Homebuyers & Sellers Say Climate Risk is Main Reason For Move: Redfin Survey - Redfin Real Estate News

Mónika Serrano and Jessica Mederson talk to Holly Neber, CEO of AEI Consultants, and chair of the development of the recently approved ASTM International Standard Guide for the assessment of physical climate risk and resilience for commercial properties known as the Property Resilience Assessment (PRA). We talk about the development of this new resilience standard, Holly's work as an emissary from commercial real estate finance to the resilience/adaptation community, and the processes of identifying and managing risk during purchase, development or financing of a commercial real estate asset.

ASTM Property Resilience Assessment

Resilience Standards and the Business of Risk

AEI Consultants

NYTimes: Rising Seas Threaten An American Institution

America Adapts: The Biggest Short: Climate Change meets the 30-year home mortgage with Dr. Jesse Keenan

America Adapts: The Wild Wild West of Climate Modeling

GARP Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR) Certificate

GARP Climate Risk Podcast

Mónika Serrano and Jessica Mederson talk to Jim Schneider, Executive Director of PCI Mountain States, a chapter of the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) covering Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming. They discuss concrete's role in increasing the built environment's resiliency to climate change as well as the greenhouse gases that are emitted in manufacturing concrete. They also cover some of the innovations being made in how concrete is manufactured and used.

Links and resources discussed on this episode include:

• Jim's LInkedIn page: (11) Jim Schneider, LEED AP | LinkedIn
• PCI Precast Concrete and Sustainable Design: Precast Concrete and Sustainable Design (pci.org)
• PCI Precast Protects Life: Precast Protects Life (pci.org)
• JIm's new podcast (A Pessimist's Guide to Optimism): A Pessimist's Guide to Optimism Podcast Series - Apple Podcasts
• Jerry Schneider Orchestra: Jerry Schneider : Cy Pfannenstein Music Service, For all your old time and polka music favorites (cysmusic.com)

Mónika and Jessica talk to Amy Macdonald, Founder & Principal of Ripple Resilience. Formerly a principal and founder of Thornton Tomasetti's Resilience Practice, her career spans four continents, with leadership roles responding to catastrophes including Sandy, Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, and earthquakes in New Zealand and Nepal. Amy discusses how her experience in disaster recovery has led to her career working with clients to incorporate resilient design, nature-based solutions, and emergency preparations in order to be resilient in the face of climate change and extreme weather events.

Amy explains the benefits of working with a resiliency consultant when working on any projects in the built environment--and the importance of consulting with such an expert early in the process. Amy also discusses how lessons learned from protecting buildings from earthquakes--such as functional recovery and performance-based design--can be applied to the built environment when designing the built environment to be resilient to climate change and extreme weather events.

Links and resources related to this interview include:

Ripple Resilience: Ripple Resilience LLC

Functional recovery post-earthquake: NIST-FEMA Special Publication FEMA P-2090/NIST SP-1254, Recommended Options for Improving the Built Environment for Post-Earthquake Reoccupancy and Functional Recovery Time

Using performance-based design to increase resiliency to climate change: Performance-Based Design Brings Resiliency to the Built Environment | Engineered Systems Magazine (esmagazine.com)

Jessica Mederson and Monika Serrano speak to Alice C. Hill, an expert in resilience to catastrophic risks, having served as Special Assistant to President Obama and Senior Director for Resilience Policy on the National Security Council. She led policy development on natural disasters, national security, and climate change. Previously, as senior counselor to the Secretary of Homeland Security, she developed the department's first climate adaptation plan. Currently a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Hill has authored works on climate resilience and serves on the boards of the Environmental Defense Fund and Munich Re U.S.-based companies.

Links:

Alice Hill's books: Building a Resilient Tomorrow and The Fight for Climate after COVID-19

Fifth National Climate Assessment (Adaptation)

NIBS Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves study

Swiss grandmothers legal case: (BBC) and (Reuters)

Peruvian Farmer sues RWE

The Ostrich Paradox: Why We Underprepare for Disasters

AIA Hazard and Climate Risk: a user's guide and form for acknowledging risk

Jessica Mederson and Monika Serrano close the first season speaking with Dr. Anne Cope, Chief Engineer at IBHS, the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, a nonprofit supported by property insurers, reinsurers, and affiliated companies. Anne leads the engineering team, researching the performance of homes and businesses in hurricanes, wildfires, severe thunderstorms, and hailstorms. We talk about her role at the National Institute of BUilding Sciences, building codes, affordability, return on investment from resilience, the role of insurers in adaptation and more.

Resources:

IBHS - https://ibhs.org/

IBHS Understanding Building Codes - https://ibhs.org/building-codes/

NIBS Mitigation Saves study - https://www.nibs.org/projects/natural-hazard-mitigation-saves-2019-report

NIBS Multi-Hazard Mitigation Council - https://www.nibs.org/mmc

Mónika and Jessica interview Professor Michael Gerrard, founder and director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School. We discuss issues such as building codes and FEMA flood maps, government regulations that could be used to improve resiliency in the built environment but only if communities use the latest versions of these regulations, which are beginning to incorporate future climate modeling--not just historical climate date. We also discuss potential liability for parties to a construction project, particularly design professionals. And we come back to one of our favorite topics--extreme heat.

Resources and stories discussed include:

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law: Sabin Center for Climate Change Law (columbia.edu)

Legal pathways for deep decarbonization: https://lpdd.org/

FEMA's BRIC program: https://www.fema.gov/grants/mitigation/building-resilient-infrastructure-communities

Renewable energy legal defense initiative: https://climate.law.columbia.edu/content/renewable-energy-legal-defense-initiative

Skanska's Hurricane Sally lawsuit: https://www.enr.com/articles/53351-skanska-found-negligent-for-damages-from-breakaway-barges

Texas's efforts to ban protecting workers from extreme heat: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/23/greg-abbott-texas-governor-bill-water-breaks-heatwave

Arizona renter's right to air conditioning: https://landlordtenantresource.com/arizona-renters-rights-air-conditioning/#google_vignette

Jessica and Monika speak with Dr. Cassandra Smith and David Keller, from the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, US Department of State. Their Climate Security and Resilience program works to understand and generate awareness of outposts' vulnerability to natural hazards and to enhance their resilience in preparation for potential natural hazards. We learn how they analyze and act on climate hazards that may affect diplomats outposts, how these assets have been affected, what the future outlook looks like, and more.

US Department of State Magazine: Climate Security and Resilience Program

Check out the ADAPT: Climate Change and the Built Environment podcast website here.

Mónika and Jessica discuss living in New Orleans with Ashley Robinson, a construction lawyer with a civil engineering degree who lives and works in New Orleans. We discuss living in New Orleans post Katrina – from work being done to prepare for future hurricanes to the multiple rounds of litigation after a major disaster. Ashley addresses the problems with getting home insurance in the face of increasing extreme weather issues and the roles building standards, green infrastructure, and individuals need to play to ensure that New Orleans can be a resilient, insurable city going forward.

Resources and links discussed include:

ASCE Report Post-Katrina: https://sp360.asce.org/PersonifyEbusiness/Merchandise/Product-Details/productId/263882635

Ongoing litigation over Brad Pitt's Make it Right Project: https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/04/17/make-it-right-lawsuit-payout-brad-pitt-foundation-new-orleans-hurricane-katrina

New Orleans' Green Infrastructure: https://ready.nola.gov/green-infrastructure/

From the Ground Up: From the Ground Up: Local Efforts to Create Resilient Cities - Kindle edition by Sant, Alison. Arts & Photography Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.