Fragile Shelters

It’s official, the United Nations, has declared “the climate is no longer in a “Climate Change” but instead we are now in a Climate Crisis”

As we become aware of the existential threat and the extremes of our changing climate, we are seeing and feeling how this impacts our lives and the world around us.  We are more exposed and more susceptible to extremes in temperatures, drought, flooding and fire with the accompanying issue of air quality for smoke affected areas.  These threats will continue to leave us and our children exposed to greater health concerns, property damage, displacement and financial hardships.

This is our planet’s new reality and we need to understand and prepare as best we can.  We, like you, are more concerned as to how this will play out in our day to day lives and what will it be like living in these new climatic extremes?

We, like you, are watching our world burn as we see so many struggle for their lives, to say nothing of the devastation to property and our eco systems.

With the realization that “Normal” isn’t coming back, we asked ourselves what we could do to help mitigate these tragic outcomes.

We turned to what we know best, blending both our life experience and education, along with 70 plus years of combined home building and renovation, we looked at how we could make our homes more “Crisis Resilient.”

How could our homes protect and shelter us in this new age?  We need to improve the performance of our homes so that they will keep us safe.

Home performance translate into quality of life.  Temperature extremes are taxing the capacity of our heating and cooling systems.  Air quality has become a major concern, how will your HVAC system or separate air quality ducting systems accommodate these extremes and our new reality?  The wild fires in Canada and the accompanying wide fire smoke events of 2023 point out the need for improving our homes’ mechanical systems and the importance of air quality.

Those who have immune deficiencies, the elderly and very young will be most affected.  Further, as we all age, preparing our residence to manage these extremes will become a serious, if not paramount, consideration.

And so this manual was compiled.  In the following pages we employ a number of professionals along with recognized agencies and specialists in their field to deliver comprehensive, relevant information, each one with a specific home building discipline or expertise in their field to help compile this survival manual.

We believe this manual will be a means for you to deal with the expected extremes that our homes will be subject to in the coming years.  With this embedded information and guidelines we hope to assist you in improving the quality of life and the safety in your home.

We have compiled some of the most progressive and reactive solutions to upgrade and protect your home, many with reasonable cost solutions.  You will find recommendations from a multitude of credible sources in addition to our own suggestions on how to protect your home from environmental extremes, how to make your home safer, more comfortable and improve your operating costs in the process.