Title: Reading
Course: GFM 101 Fundamentals of Green Facilities Management > Section: GFM 101 Fundamentals of Green Facilities Management

Reading

Building (and How To Recognize) Disaster-Resilient Communities

Please click on the links, as they are part of the assigned readings.

Unsustainable development is one of the major factors in the rising costs of natural disasters. Given that hazard mitigation is at the core of disaster resistance, then, many design strategies and technologies serve double duty, by not only preventing or reducing disaster losses but serving the broader goal of long-term community sustainability. For example, erosion control measures designed to mitigate flood, mudslide, rainstorm, and other damage to a building's foundation may also improve the quality of runoff water entering streams and lakes. Similarly, land use regulations prohibiting development in flood-prone areas may also help preserve the natural and beneficial functions of floodplains.

Regardless of whether hazard mitigation is undertaken before or after a disaster—on the basis of a risk assessment in the former case, and as a result of unforeseen damages or a renewed understanding of vulnerability in the latter—it is always an inherently proactive endeavor. In situations where mitigation efforts are integrated into a holistic post-disaster recovery strategy, the principles of sustainability should guide every aspect of the recovery effort. By carefully balancing the full spectrum of interests relating to the built environment, psychosocial recovery, economic redevelopment, and preservation or restoration of the natural environment, an impacted community can ensure that the net result is enhanced long-term disaster resilience.

Mitigation

Personal mitigation is mainly about knowing and avoiding unnecessary risks. This includes an assessment of possible risks to personal/family health and to personal property.

In a flood plain, in areas of subsidence or landslides, home owners may not be aware of a property being exposed to a hazard until it strikes. However, specialists can be hired to conduct risk identification and assessment surveys. Purchase of insurance covering the most prominent identified risks is a common measure.

Personal structural mitigation in earthquake prone areas includes installation of an Earthquake Valve to instantly shut off the natural gas supply to a property, seismic retrofits of property and the securing of items inside a building to enhance household seismic safety. The latter may include the mounting of furniture, refrigerators, water heaters and breakables to the walls, and the addition of cabinet latches. In flood prone areas houses can be built on poles/stilts, as in much of southern Asia. In areas prone to prolonged electricity black-outs installation of a generator would be an example of an optimal structural mitigation measure. The construction of storm cellars and fallout shelters are further examples of personal mitigative actions.

Mitigation involves Structural and Non-structural measures taken to limit the impact of disasters. Structural mitigation are actions that change the characteristics of a building or its surrounding, examples include shelters, window shutters, clearing forest around the house. Non-structural mitigation on personal level mainly takes the form of insurance or simply moving house to a safer area.

Click here to download and read about Natural Hazards and Security from the Whole Building Design Guide.
Click here to read about Emergency Management.