SYMPOSIUM: Sandy to Snowvember - Climate Change and Resilient Building Design

From Sandy to Snowvember: Climate Change and Buildings in New York State Symposium

November 4, 2016 | 12 pm-5 pm

When Hurricane Sandy made landfall in October of 2012, more than 186 people were killed, over 600,000 homes were damaged, and infrastructure was devastated across New York State. During the “Snowvember” storm in November 2014, 70+ inches of snow fell in Western New York, causing 14 fatalities, and numerous roofs to collapse. These two events suggest that building design in New York needs to shift to address varying weather patterns caused by climate change.

Register 

There is no cost to attend the event, however registration is required because we will provide lunch, coffee, and snacks.

Visit the Resilient Buildings Lab for full details 

This symposium draws together academics and practitioners from the Northeast and Great Lakes regions to address critical questions in climate resilience applicable to New York State, including how built environment professionals respond to a changing climate; how building stock can adapt to climate change in New York State; and how resilience is currently being addressed by built environment professionals. Participants will also hear results from recent research conducted by UB, L&S Energy Services, and Weather Analytics and supported by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Up to 3.5 CEU/PDH will be available for attending this symposium.

·                  Rosetta Elkin, Harvard Graduate School of Design

·                  Brendan Kelly, CEM, L&S Energy Services, Inc.

·                  Terry Schwarz, FAICP, Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative

·                  Amanda Stevens, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)

·                  Michael Tillou, PE, Atelier Ten

·                  Rachel Minnery, FAIA, American Institute of Architects

November 4, 2016 | 12 pm - 5 pm
University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning (map)
Hayes Hall, 4th Floor Lecture Hall
3435 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14214

Attendees are encouraged to take the NFTA to the University Station (link). Visitor parking passes will also be available for both the Diefendorf or Townsend lots (map), which are a short walk from the building. Accessible parking spaces are available adjacent to Hayes Hall.

Remembering Superstorm Sandy - It's Time to Act on Climate

Fossil fuels divestment campaign is gathering momentum
From university students to church groups, a united global effort will politically bankrupt the fossil fuel industry.

By Bill McKibben   
| Environment | theguardian.com.

Excerpts:
The world has a choice when dealing with climate change. One is to decide it's a problem like any other, which can be dealt with slowly and over time. The other is to recognise it as a crisis, perhaps the unique crisis in human history, which will take rapid, urgent action to overcome.

Science is in the second, scared camp – that's the meaning of the IPCC report issued last month, which showed that our planet is already undergoing climatic shifts far greater than any experienced in human civilisation, with far worse to come.

And those of us urging divestment from fossil fuel stocks are in the second camp too – we recognise that business as usual is quite simply impossible.

In the US, a number of colleges, churches, and universities have begun to divest those stocks, arguing that they can't both simultaneously decry the wreckage of the climate and try to profit from it for a few more years.

The trustees of San Francisco State University recognised that it made no sense to have, on the one hand, a physics department understanding climate change and on the other hand, an endowment full of oil and gas stocks.

The United Church of Christ, which traces its roots back to the Pilgrims, decided it couldn't pay the pastor by investing in companies that are running Genesis backwards.

In addition, UK university students are increasingly engaged in divestment campaigns as evidenced by the work undertaken by People & Planet. To date there are 19 active divestment campaigns across the UK including universities with the largest endowments: Cambridge, Oxford and Edinburgh.

Everyone involved in this campaign understands that divestment won't in fact bankrupt Exxon or BP or Shell, but they also understand how important it is to politically bankrupt them. These are now rogue industries, committed to burning more carbon than any government on earth thinks would be safe to burn. Their irresponsibility belongs to their executives and boards of directors – but it also belongs to anyone who holds their shares. If you think that climate change is a true crisis, then the time has come to sever your ties.

Read the full article here.

~ ~ ~

  ~ Superstorm Sandy Hit New York One Year Ago Today ~

TONIGHT: Tuesday, October 29, 2013 at 7:00 PM
Sierra Club Niagara Group will remember Sandy and screen “Comfort Zone” -- a one hour film on what Climate Change will do to Western New York.

Place: Schenck Hall at Daemen College, Main Street in Snyder [Campus Map]

The program is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Screening: "Comfort Zone" -- Climate Change Impacts in WNY

~ In commemoration of Superstorm Sandy ~

Sierra Club Niagara Group will show “Comfort Zone” -- a one hour film on what climate change will do to Western New York.

“Comfort Zone” brings the global issue of climate change to a local and personal level. It's the story of what happens when we try to translate this global problem to our individual lives. What is at stake? What can I do about it? What if dealing with this problem asks things of me that I'm not yet ready to give? The climate is already changing. Now what about us?

       

Date: Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Time: 7:00pm

Place: Schenck Hall at Daemen College, Main Street in Snyder across from Amherst Central High School [Campus Map]

The program is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

For more information on “Comfort Zone”, visit www.comfortzoneproject.com

Name Extreme Storms after Climate Deniers

CLIMATE NAME CHANGE: A satirical proposal to name extreme storms after politicians who deny human-caused global warming and obstruct climate policy.

This video, published by ClimateNameChange.org on Aug 26, 2013, has gone Viral. It has received over 2 Million hits!

Since 1954, the World Meteorological Organization has been naming extreme storms after people. But ClimateNameChange.org thinks it's time for a new naming system. If you agree with their proposal, endorse this CLIMATE NAME CHANGE plan by clicking here.

On Wednesday, there was a hearing of a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee about the impact of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan. Republicans argued against doing anything about carbon pollution. To see their five craziest arguments, and the rebuttals of those arguments, click here.

VICTORY PARTY: UB Closed Unscholarly Shale Institute

When: Friday, December 7, 5pm - 8:30pmTo be Rescheduled for a later date.

Where: Sportsmen's Tavern, 326 Amherst St., Buffalo [MAP]

What: Party with music by Five to One ($5 cover and Sandy relief donation at the door). Dancing, beer, fun, fellowship and awards.

All are Welcome - Invite your Friends

CWA Healthcare Coordinating Council Presents a Victory Salute to UB CLEAR and Friends (below) for helping UB shut down the unscholarly Shale Institute. Award Certificates will be presented at 6:30pm to:

• Jim Holstun - Chair, UB CLEAR (Coalition for Leading Ethically in Academic Research)

• David Kowalski – Re-ENERGIZE Buffalo Blog; UB CLEAR

• Buck Quigley – Associate Editor, ArtVoice

• Kevin Connor – Director, Public Accountability Initiative

We’ll also be passing the hat for  
Occupy Sandy’s relief efforts


Printable Flier: Click Here

Adam Zyglis - The Buffalo News

Goodbye to industry-promoted studies masquerading as objective, scholarly research at UB!

Join us to celebrate the safeguarding of research integrity at our public university.

Facebook page is here. Invite friends!

What Global Warming Looked Like Before SANDY

We dump billions of tons of carbon pollution into the atmosphere each year. Excess carbon dioxide traps excess heat in the atmosphere. Excess heat causes heat waves, droughts, higher ocean temperatures, and sea-level rise and leads to extreme storms.

This year's extreme weather follows last year's. The twelve months from July 2011 to June 2012 were the hottest on record for the United States. Texas saw its hottest and driest summer on record in 2011 by a wide margin, and research published recently shows that carbon pollution dramatically increased the probability of such extreme heat and drought. The data are in. This is what global warming looked like before SANDY. 

And then came Superstorm SANDY in late October 2012 ...