Climate security

Climate change forcing builders to rethink how they design structures, expert says

Severe weather events like wildfires and floods are becoming more frequent and more difficult to predict, forcing architects and engineers to rethink how they design buildings, infrastructure and cities.

Brock Schroeder, managing director of engineering firm Entuitive, says events such as the fire in Fort McMurray, Alta., and the floods that hit Alberta in 2013 have led to changes in how structures are designed in Canada.

"You can't put major electrical infrastructure below grade in a downtown office building in Calgary anymore because of the risk of flooding," Schroeder says.

"Now that (weather events) are becoming less predictable, you need to take a more performance-based approach to how you design a city or how you design a building. It can't just be the way we've always done it before."