Green Building Community
Disaster Ready Homes + How Some Regulations in Atlanta have unintended additional positive outcomes
Posted by: Matt Hoots // SawHorse Design + Build
#GreenInfluencerATL group members Grace and Corbett Lunsford interviewed YouTube superstar Matt Risinger about disaster-ready homes in Austin, Tex. They were kind enough to allow me to react to it.
As I watched the video, I thought about all of the crazy things that we have to do in Atlanta to deal with watershed management. One of the things that Atlanta requires us to do is install cisterns to collect water and keep it on the property. They ask that we note that we will use it onsite on the plans, which seems reasonable.
How about if you have drought-resistant landscaping and you don't need irrigation? One of our clients got approval to filter the water and use it instead of using City of Atlanta water (which is expensive compared to the rest of Georgia.) The extra cost to be able to reuse the water will pay back quickly since his tenants will not have a huge water bill anymore.
In the video, Matt Risinger put out a PSA when their snowstorm hit Texas to fill up the tubs since the water lines were primed to burst. Since we must capture and store water in Atlanta, we have to built-in resilience that was not intentional. The city was mostly concerned about surface water runoff and its impact on the stormwater collection system. Why not take advantage of this regulation and find creative ways to use this water?
Atlanta is one of the greenest (from above) major metropolitan cities due to its tree ordinance. One of the downsides is that trees and their branches can damage power lines. Depending on where you are on the grid, you could be without power for days. One solution to this problem is solar with a battery backup. This allows you to have solar power 24/7.
Our solar partner was able to share with us at the Atlanta Home Show some solar solutions they can offer our clients.
Let us know what we missed in the video.
What are some disaster-proof ideas you have and implement on your projects?
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