Jacksonville unveils 50-year strategy for resiliency to flooding, extreme heat, wildfires

The City of Jacksonville, Fla., recently released plans for Resilient Jacksonville, a 50-year resiliency strategy to reduce the risks from flooding, hurricanes, excessive heat, and wildfires, and to respond better to those events.

The plan includes ways to stop the St. Johns River from flooding vulnerable neighborhoods, including those prone to flooding during heavy rain or hurricanes. One measure, a green stormwater infrastructure program, would help with flooding and also reduce water pollution by constructing rain gardens, swales, and tree trenches to store stormwater runoff before it can get to sewers.

The city also plans to relocate certain city-owned resources “where alternative adaptation options are infeasible.” These properties and infrastructure assets would be moved to areas outside of a flood plain.

The plans to address excessive heat by investing in the more than 400 parks around Jacksonville and expand an alert system for high-heat days. The city would also improve cooling facilities, possibly add more of them, and keep them open longer.

Construction Specialties (CS) is the only manufacturer in the market that can claim its modular stair system can withstand 100 earthquakes. Thanks to extensive practical testing conducted this spring at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) on the tallest building ever to be seismically tested, CS has identified five significant insights that will impact all future research and development in stair solutions.

Engineers | Sep 15, 2023

NIST investigation of Champlain Towers South collapse indicates no sinkhole

Investigators from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) say they have found no evidence of underground voids on the site of the Champlain Towers South collapse, according to a new NIST report. The team of investigators have studied the site’s subsurface conditions to determine if sinkholes or excessive settling of the pile foundations might have caused the collapse.

Resiliency | Sep 11, 2023

FEMA names first communities for targeted assistance on hazards resilience

FEMA recently unveiled the initial designation of 483 census tracts that will be eligible for increased federal support to boost resilience to natural hazards and extreme weather. The action was the result of bipartisan legislation, the Community Disaster Resilience Zones Act of 2022. The law aims to help localities most at risk from the impacts of climate change to build resilience to natural hazards.

Metals | Sep 11, 2023

Best practices guide for air leakage testing for metal building systems released

The Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA) released a new guidebook, Metal Building Systems - Best Practices to Comply with Whole-Building Air Leakage Testing Requirements.

Codes and Standards | Aug 31, 2023

Community-led effort aims to prevent flooding in Chicago metro region

RainReady Calumet Corridor project favors solutions that use natural and low-impact projects such as rain gardens, bioswales, natural detention basins, green alleys, and permeable pavers, to reduce the risk of damaging floods.

Sustainability | Aug 15, 2023

Carbon management platform offers free carbon emissions assessment for NYC buildings

nZero, developer of a real-time carbon accounting and management platform, is offering free carbon emissions assessments for buildings in New York City. The offer is intended to help building owners prepare for the city’s upcoming Local Law 97 reporting requirements and compliance. This law will soon assess monetary fines for buildings with emissions that are in non-compliance.

Resiliency | Aug 7, 2023

Creative ways cities are seeking to beat urban heat gain

As temperatures in many areas hit record highs this summer, cities around the world are turning to creative solutions to cope with the heat. Here are several creative ways cities are seeking to beat urban heat gain.