Courtesy of the Urban Green Council
Without electricity, buildings are dependent on whatever protection is provided by their walls, windows, and roof. In today’s buildings, that protection is modest at best. If it wore clothing, the typical New York City building would have a light jacket on—not what you’d wear outside in winter, and certainly not performance gear.
Only some buildings are constructed well enough to maintain their indoor temperatures without power. But to protect all New Yorkers, these resilient, high-performing buildings must become the new normal.
Computer models were created by Atelier Ten and based on six representative residential building categories to find indoor temperatures after a blackout within a single apartment. Summer and winter scenarios were defined by recent New York City weather data. The full report describes these models in detail.