Resilient by Design: Time to Change Codes in Coastal Cities

Jacqueline Gonzalez Touzet

In summer 1992, I graduated from Cornell and returned home to Miami to start my career as an architect, just in time to witness Hurricane Andrew’s devastation of South Florida. What left a deep impression on me was how we responded as a community and changed our codes to help us build back better and stronger.

That catastrophe, which took 65 lives and caused $27 billion in damage, led to significant changes in Florida Building Codes for wind design. From Florida to the Bahamas, I’ve seen code-compliant buildings that survived hurricanes unscathed alongside ones that were devastated. The results are clear: codes matter.

These stringent codes are updated every few years to align with data. As a result, when we design buildings in high-velocity wind zones, we don’t need to argue for “extra” resiliency high-impact glass or roofs; they are mandated. The building industry has clear performance data requirements to meet, and the market for products that do so is growing. Our communities are safer as a result.

I wish I could say the same for changes to codes that address rising waters and flooding. Despite years of studies and data, visible evidence from sunny-day flooding, and more frequent and devastating storms, our codes for flooding continue to lag behind our new reality.

Architects and sustainability
consultants often have to plead for more robust resiliency measures. I believe that needs to change. Just as we don’t have to argue for more fire stairs or better hurricane glass, we shouldn’t need to make the case for protecting communities from an established and growing threat. We need to connect the dots between resilient buildings and public safety.

While serving on local Coastal Resiliency Boards and panels during the past decade, I’ve asked developers, real estate professionals, academics, and my peers: what will it take for us to finally take action? The answer is often the same: money. The consensus is that if it’s not in the code, resiliency becomes just another buzzword to be watered down as budgets inevitably tighten.

A major impediment is incorrect data: base flood elevations (BFE) rely on outdated maps from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Such information often gets delayed by politics and insurance rate fears.

Some coastal states and cities have adopted sporadic measures such as raising design flood elevation (DFE) a foot in Florida or allowing a few extra feet of “freeboard” to elevate first floors above BFE. These steps are essential, but they are not yet the norm and are not tied to current projections, unlike the way our wind codes are.

Even with freeboard or higher BFEs, without adding overall building height, elevating the first floor can result in losing a floor of development or having to seek a variance. Some zoning codes incentivize basements in flood zones. Zoning codes must incentivize and allow for future adaptation. Our building codes need to be based on data, not historical maps.

Even as our codes lag behind science, our insurance companies, mortgage lenders, and federal agencies are beginning to step in with hard data. They are making their own assessments, issuing their own standards for resilient buildings, and requesting “beyond code” design.

I’m often asked why I stay in Florida when the future there seems under threat. My answer is simple: I love my home. Living and designing next to the coast comes with great risks but also brings tremendous beauty. I was born in Cuba and have deep roots in Miami. My people are islanders who have lived in this region for hundreds of years. Leadership, sound design, and tough codes can make us all safer.

After Andrew, people resisted code changes because of costs and profits. The ongoing construction boom in South Florida has proved those naysayers wrong.

Related reading on ULI’s Knowledge Finder: The Business Case for Resilience in Southeast Florida: Regional Economic Benefits of Climate Adaptation