Texas Floods Cause Rising Human, Economic Toll Across Communities
Building stronger and higher are obvious measures,” Caplow comments, but adds, “there is another aspect to resilience that is frequently overlooked: the inside of our homes need to be designed to get wet.” This is a key component to the firm’s innovative resilience design, which it calls “hypostruction,” meaning building with less. Less drywall, less cheap insulation, less chipboard and fiberboard, (which fall apart when wet), less carpeting and ground level wood flooring, less air conditioning ductwork and less wasted space in wall and ceiling cavities, (where he notes that damage is hard to detect in time to prevent problems) are core to the concept.
“By eliminating these common building practices (as we did at our WELL-certified, LEED-platinum home completed in 2024 and called CM1) we can ‘harden’ our homes from the inside out, ensuring that if the structure is strong enough to withstand the floodwaters, then the house will not just survive, but continue to be habitable once the waters recede.” He points out the contrast with traditionally built homes that become “crumbling mold hazards” after a soaking, leading to displacement and financial burdens.
