2024 Summer Issue of Urban Land - 88

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JACQUELINE GONZALEZ TOUZET
Resilient by Design: Time to Change
Codes in Coastal Cities
Development continues despite
concerns about impacts on costs
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
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URBAN LAND
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rely on outdated maps from the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 baseSUMMER
202 4
Jacqueline Gonzalez Touzet
ments 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. UL
JACQUELINE GONZALEZ TOUZET is a LEED
AP and principal/cofounder of Touzet Studio.
2024 Summer Issue of Urban Land

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