Wildfires aren’t usually on my radar, because I don’t live in a region that is much susceptible to them. But, in the past couple of weeks, everyone has become more aware of them. They have been widely across the news because of the number of serious wildfires in southern California recently. At the same time, recent news coverage has also looked at drought conditions which are being felt in Georgia and North Carolina. While these two are be peripherally linked in other ways, it makes some sense to look at these issues from the perspective of sustainable building.
Addressing the issue of preparation for these extreme conditions as part of a sustainable building strategy only makes sense. Water use and xeriscaping (drought tolerant landscaping) are issues that are included in the LEED rating system, and are well regarded as part of the overall sustainability of buildings. But addressing a building and it’s site in terms of wildfires should be equally considered for regions where fire susceptibility is high. Keeping the building from burning down is also an issue of conservation of resources and should be part of a green building approach.
Wired recently offered a number of suggestions for protecting your house and family in case of a wildfire, and other sites are certainly going to gather similar advice in the near future, as well. This makes sense from both a personal perspective as well as from a wider, community sustainability perspective in the same way that addressing water use does. Basic steps to keep the site cleared of flamable underbrush, selection of fire resistant plantings close to the house, and storage of flamable materials away from the house and in safely protected areas all will contribute to helping a structure survive a wildfire.
Design can play into this, too, even in small ways. One excellent example is the Australian architect Glenn Murcutt, the 2002 winner of the Pritzker Prize for Architecture, who is noted for a number sustainable residences he has designed in rural regions of Australia which are susceptible to bushfire. Murcutt often incorporates oversized rain gutters on these buildings. This is less for water catchment (though the drought in Australia makes this a factor, as well), but more for the fact that this helps keep the large leaves from local trees from clogging the gutters and being stuck there where they can become a source of fuel for a bushfire. Murcutt has even designed roofs of some of his buildings with external sprinkler fittings on the roof that can be connected to water pumps to help protect the building in the event of a bushfire approaching the house.
In California, eliminiating the use of wood shake roofs in fire prone regions has been one of the greatest steps in helping to reduce the spread of wildfires in construction. Synthetic materials can be used which offer the same look, but which do not pose the fire hazards that wood roofs offer. Murcutt also uses corrugated iron regularly for his houses. While this may not be the traditional material used in southern California, material selection, especially in remote and fire-prone areas, may need to take those issues into consideration as part of an overall strategy of sustainable building.
Links: Wired
Via: Lifehacker
Image source: Wikimedia Commons/U.S. Forest Service
Yay, another Murcutt fan!
I observed in Australia and New Zealand that the majority of houses seemed to have metal roofs.
(And water reservoirs, but that’s something else.)
Here in Florida, the typical asphalt-fiberglass shingle is not considered to be a fire-resistant roof covering by Florida Green Building Coalition’s standards.
Yay, another Murcutt fan!
I observed in Australia and New Zealand that the majority of houses seemed to have metal roofs.
(And water reservoirs, but that’s something else.)
Here in Florida, the typical asphalt-fiberglass shingle is not considered to be a fire-resistant roof covering by Florida Green Building Coalition’s standards.
The firefighters cheered when they saw our metal roof and green lawn. They planned to take refuge in our house. That was three years ago. I now view summer differently, and it produces a certain amount of anxiety. We have also put a pond in near our house, in order to store water nearby. Our water tank burned up in the fire, as did the water line. The fire started from a tree falling on a power line. Kind of ironic, since we live off the grid.
The firefighters cheered when they saw our metal roof and green lawn. They planned to take refuge in our house. That was three years ago. I now view summer differently, and it produces a certain amount of anxiety. We have also put a pond in near our house, in order to store water nearby. Our water tank burned up in the fire, as did the water line. The fire started from a tree falling on a power line. Kind of ironic, since we live off the grid.