Infrastructure Resilience

What Is Infrastructure Resilience?

Infrastructure resilience refers to the ability of essential systems to withstand, adapt to, and recover from disruptions while continuing to provide critical services. This idea includes natural and human-created disasters, such as earthquakes, technological failures, damage to the power grid, and climate-change-related extreme weather events. It involves designing and building infrastructure to anticipate and minimize vulnerabilities and maximize its useful life. Resilient infrastructure ensures individuals, businesses, and communities can resist, accommodate, and recover from shocks and stresses.

How Is Infrastructure Resilience Related to HVAC?

HVAC systems are crucial to the operation of buildings. Incorporating resilience into HVAC design and maintenance can help to ensure business continuity, protect assets, and maintain occupant comfort during extreme events.

Resilience requires being proactive by anticipating potential risks, understanding the need for redundant systems, and planning for rapid recovery. For critical applications, consideration should be given to implementing systems that can safeguard a building from unexpected loss of power, such as thermal energy storage systems or distributed energy resources . During an emergency, your heating, cooling, and ventilation system can keep occupants comfortable while protecting their indoor air quality.

Types of Resilience

A holistic approach is necessary for creating a truly resilient infrastructure, which means accounting for four types of resilience:

• Climate: A climate-resilient infrastructure can withstand and adapt to long-term climate changes, such as heatwaves, drought, rising temperatures, or more regular flooding. To prepare for climate hazards, design systems to include oversize cooling capacity, implement adaptive controls and elevate mechanical systems above flood levels.
• Disaster: A disaster-resilient infrastructure can speed recovery time after acute events, like earthquakes, wildfires, and hurricanes. To mitigate damage, secure HVAC units, use fire-resistant materials, install backup generators, and have spare parts on hand. In the event of an emergency that damages equipment, look for options like rental units to return the building to service while permanent repairs are being made.
• Energy: Energy resilience means you can maintain operations during energy disruptions or shortages. This requires on-site energy generation using renewable sources , energy storage, and diversified fuel sources.
• Operational : Operational resilience allows you to maintain or quickly restore service after a technical failure. For fast reactions, it helps to develop contingency plans, conduct drills, and train staff on emergency mechanical procedures.

Key Steps for Incorporating Resilience into Building Infrastructure

• Assess regional risks, like fire, flood, wind, and heat, and tailor the HVAC system design accordingly.
• Invest in system redundancy and emergency power solutions to ensure continuous operations.
• Upgrade building envelopes to reduce reliance on the HVAC system during outages.
• Adopt flexible, adaptive technologies that can be updated as risks evolve.
• Integrate resilience into long-term planning, procurement, and maintenance protocols to ensure ongoing protection.

Resources for Infrastructure Resilience

• Infrastructure Renewal
• Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) for Resilience
• Improving Uptime, Resilience, and Reliability for Mission-Critical Federal Infrastructure
• 3 Ways Distributed Energy Resources Help Add Value to Your Building and Operation
• A 3-Step Guide: Investing in and Adapting Your Infrastructure for the Future<a href=
• How to Become Net Zero and Achieve Resilience
• Case study: The State of New Mexico’s “State Buildings Green Energy Project”
• Case study: Designing for Data Center Resiliency
• Case study: Transforming Toronto Western into a More Sustainable Hospital: Record-breaking Wastewater Energy Project

Infrastructure resilience in buildings goes beyond routine reliability; it is a proactive, adaptive approach that safeguards operations, occupant comfort, and organizational continuity in the face of both immediate disasters and long-term environmental change. To explore the best options for your building's needs, contact a local Trane expert today.