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The greenest building is the one still standing after a disaster

<name>Fernanda Cruz Rios, Assistant Professor of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Drexel University</name> <foaf:homepage rdf:resource="https://theconversation.com/profiles/fernanda-cruz-rios-2749515"/>· 1 septembre 2026

Construction choices are often the difference between a house surviving a hurricane or being torn apart. Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images When Hurricane Michael tore through the Florida Panhandle in 2018, a beach house called the Sand Palace was left standing , while more than half the buildings around…

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Hurricane-resistant house example

In 2018, Hurricane Michael struck Florida’s Panhandle, destroying over half the buildings in Mexico Beach.

One house, nicknamed the Sand Palace, remained intact.

Its owners had built it to withstand wind speeds roughly double Florida’s building code requirements, using reinforced concrete walls on 40-foot pilings.

While this made the house 15% to 20% more expensive than standard construction, it survived the storm.

The example illustrates that buildings designed for resilience can endure disasters, even if their initial environmental impact appears higher due to extra materials like concrete.

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