Builders Race to Future-Proof New Residential Development Against Climate Change

In the wake of extreme weather events in a warming climate, builders and developers are taking new measures to future-proof residential structures in at-risk regions across the country. Seaside developments like Lendlease’s planned 1 Java St. in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint enclave and its Clippership Wharf in Boston both include “living shorelines” with natural barriers for rising sea levels.

New residential construction projects are also moving onto landscapes at greater elevations than those required by city codes, Forbes reports. From submerged shorelines to temperature extremes, new building codes and innovative resiliency strategies are vital to protecting and preserving existing buildings in a more volatile and threatening environment.

Cognizant of rising Lake Michigan water levels, Evanston, Ill.-based architecture and interior design firm Morgante Wilson Architects (MWA) has added future-proof features in homes it has designed along the shores of the third-largest Great Lake.

While designing protective features to blend with aesthetically-pleasing home designs, MWA has also consulted with firms focusing on engineering concrete reinforcements and retaining walls for the Great Lakes. As well, it has often exceeded township and state requirements for structures built along the lake in the Chicago area, Indiana and Michigan.

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