Some houses are being built to stand up to hurricanes and sharply cut emissions, too

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Category: (Self-Study) Science/Environment

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Bonny Paulson’s home, with a rounded shape that looks something like a ship, shrugged off Category 5 winds that might otherwise have collapsed it when Hurricane Michael hit the Florida Panhandle five years ago.

Her house lost only a few shingles, with photos taken after the storm showing it standing whole amid the wreckage of almost all the surrounding homes.

Some developers are building homes like Paulson’s with an eye toward making them more resilient to the extreme weather that’s increasing with climate change, and friendlier to the environment at the same time.

A person’s home is one of the biggest ways they can reduce their individual carbon footprint. Buildings release about 38% of all energy-related greenhouse gas emissions each year. Some of the carbon pollution comes from powering things like lights and air conditioners and some of it from making construction materials, like concrete and steel.

Deltec, the company that built Paulson’s home, says that only one of the nearly 1,400 homes it’s built over the last three decades has suffered structural damage from hurricane-force winds.

But the company puts as much emphasis on building green, with higher-quality insulation that reduces the need for air conditioning, heat pumps for more efficient heating and cooling, energy-efficient appliances, and, of course, solar.

Other companies are developing entire neighborhoods that are both resistant to hurricanes and contribute less than average to climate change.

To reduce vulnerability to flooding, home sites are raised 3 feet above code. Roads are raised, too, and designed to direct accumulating rainfall away and onto the ground where it may be absorbed. Steel roofs with seams allow solar panels to be attached so closely that it’s difficult for high winds to get under them, and the homes have batteries that kick in when power is knocked out.

Paulson, in Mexico Beach, says she’s now enjoying energy costs of about $32 per month, far below the roughly $250 she said she paid in a previous home.

“I don’t really feel that the population is taking into effect the environmental catastrophes, and adjusting for it,” she said. “We’re building the same old stuff that got blown away.”

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

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[Bonny Paulson’s hurricane-resilient home]

[Solar panels installed on the roof]

[Paulson on her porch with dogs]

[Paulson’s living room with rounded ceiling]

[Paulson showing phone photos she took of Hurricane Michael aftermath]

Bonny Paulson (interview): “We started building this house in 2018. It was about to be completed, we had two weeks before we moved in, when Hurricane Michael hit, so we had to evacuate.”

[Heavily damaged homes and buildings close to beach after Hurricane Michael]

Bonny Paulson (interview): “From my understanding with the damage to the house was only shingles above the door and back. So apparently the hurricane hit the house, which is basically designed as a boat, and went right down the sides of the house. There was nothing left except one white house catty-corner to us. Everything else was wiped out.”

[Rubble after Hurricane Michael]

[Cinder blocks]

[Beach where the swell likely washed ashore between 7-9 feet]

[Home destroyed near shore]

[Stilts, no house]

[Paulson looking out window at canal that was destroyed by Hurricane Michael]

[Canal by Paulson’s home leading to ocean]

[Homes being constructed next to Paulson’s home]

Bonny Paulson (interview): “I don’t really feel that the population is taking too into effect the environmental catastrophes and adjusting for it. We’re building the same old stuff that got blown away, the same old stuff that wasn’t necessarily foolproof and safe, I don’t feel.”

[Paulson looking down at garden from balcony]

[Paulson gardening]

Bonny Paulson (interview): “I’m aware that the earth is changing, folks, you know, and we need to adapt to that. And I think that environmentally, architects are going to have to start thinking out of the box. Definitely outside of the box.”

[Paulson coming down home elevator]

[Various of Deltec workers building sustainable home made to withstand high winds]

Dallam Hart (interview): “This house was built by a lady that was looking to build a sustainable home on a lot that she has owned for some period of time. Her main focus on this house was the strength of engineering of our house. We predominantly use a very high grade of southern yellow pine for our structural components to withstand high winds, as well as other environmental factors.”

[Worker building rounded ceiling]

[Home’s floor]

Dallam Hart (interview): “We have focused on the round design because it’s so unique and people like it for a very specific reason. What it does for them and their lot encapsulates views, the strength of engineering, of course, and the energy efficiency.”

[Workers at construction site]

This script was provided by The Associated Press.

The related lesson for this video will be published next Tuesday.