North Carolina’s Deltec Homes is known for houses that can withstand winds of up to 190 miles an hour, like this one in Crystal River, Florida.
Photo courtesy of Deltec Homes
Four Home Designs for Climate Resiliency
A growing number of developers and architects are pressure-testing home designs that can withstand hurricanes, wildfires and other climate shocks.
In the past year alone, floods washed away nearly one million houses in Pakistan, heat waves killed hundreds of people in under-air-conditioned London and Hurricane Ian tore apart homes along the US East Coast. From record-breaking temperatures to wildfires and gale-force winds, housing all over the world is being put to the test by a changing climate.
Climate impacts are also making it more expensive to insure homes against these threats. In the US, for example, a survey last year by online insurance marketplace Policygenius found that 90% of more than 8,000 insured homes had seen an increase in premiums, which were up by an average of 12% in May from a year earlier. Increases were steepest in disaster-prone states that include Washington, Colorado and Arkansas — each of which saw premiums climb roughly 18%.