Climate resiliency design guidelines - Preliminary

These preliminary Climate Resiliency Design Guidelines (“Guidelines”) provide step-by-step instructions on how to supplement historic climate data with specific, regional, forward-looking climate data in the design of infrastructure and buildings.

These Guidelines apply to all City capital projects except coastal protection projects (e.g. sea walls and levees), for which the City will develop separate guidance. Implementing the Guidelines will result in protection standards that will make the City’s built environment more resilient to climate change and promote the health, safety and prosperity of New Yorkers. The Guidelines are an initial step towards integrating resiliency as a core principle in the design of buildings and infrastructure in NYC.

The primary goal of the Guidelines is to incorporate forward-looking climate data into the design of all City of New York capital projects. The Guidelines provide a consistent methodology for engineers, architects and planners to design facilities that are resilient to changing climate conditions. The Guidelines are to be used throughout the design process—as a reference in RFPs through to the conceptual or study phase, to final design—for all new construction and substantial improvements of City buildings and infrastructure.

These Guidelines were developed by the Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency in close collaboration with City agencies that are involved in design of capital projects. A Design Guidelines Working Group was convened to consult on the development of the Guidelines, which included more than 15 City agencies.