HOUSING RESILIENCE

CHALLENGES AND BEST PRACTICES

As the first solar-powered community in the United States, Babcock Ranch uses more than 650,000 solar panels to power homes through underground power lines that are not susceptible to windstorm damage.

On-site water and wastewater utility facilities are elevated above the 100-year flood plain and underground fiber optic lines provide data connectivity during extreme weather events.

Heather McGowan, manager of Association Archives for the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), wrote about Babcock’s nature-based resilience in the report “A Case Study on Building Communities with Sustainability and Resiliency at the Forefront.”

Babcock Ranch was successful because it was designed and developed to work with the environment.

“Babcock Ranch was successful because they designed and developed to work with the environment.

They worked with canals, lakes and marshlands to absorb water when it could flood,” she said.

“It’s cool that they never brought in artificial fill.

That was environmentally sensitive and sustainable.”