Keep Safe - A Guide to Resilient Housing Design and Construction is a new manual for safe, resilient housing construction for Puerto Rico and other island communities developed in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Enterprise Community Partners led a large team, including the University of Puerto Rico School of Architecture and Planning, the Puerto Rico Homebuilders Association, Perkins and Will, and the MIT Urban Risk Lab, among others, to develop a comprehensive manual for rebuilding in the Caribbean in the most sustainable, long lasting way in the face of escalating hazards due to climate change. The manual features strategies on resilient energy and water systems for homes; protection of roofing and structural systems; strategies to enable habitability of homes without power; strategies to embolden communities and how to implement strategies outlined through code compliance and funding. The guide is a decision-making tool to assist housing designers, operators, construction professionals, owners and regulators to determine resilience strategies to make homes safer from extreme weather.
Our contribution, led by Larisa Ovalles with extensive contributions by Jean Carlos Vega Diaz, was the introductory chapter on Puerto Rico’s hazards, risks, and vulnerabilities to disaster. It includes both a survey of disasters on the island stretching back 100 years and a projection of future hazards due to climate change.
The book was released to the public on October 8, 2019, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Juan, PR.
Download the full version of the book below (100MB)
Past Events:
A Conversation and Book Launch on Climate Resilience for Island Communities
November 25th, 2019. 6pm - 8pm.
Location: Center for Architecture. Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place, New York, NY 10012
Organized by: AIANY Design for Risk and Reconstruction Committee; Enterprise Community Partners; AIANY Puerto Rico Taskforce
For more news about the project visit:
And the following news outlets: El Nuevo Día, Notiuno, WIPR – Noticias 24/7,
Led by Enterprise Community Partners and University of Puerto Rico School of Architecture and Planning.
MIT Urban Risk Lab Team: Miho Mazereeuw, Larisa Ovalles, David Moses, Jean Carlos Vega Diaz