Extreme Winter Weather in Texas

Extreme Winter Weather in Texas

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An event heard across the globe...

Austin, Texas blanketed in snow on February 8, 2021 Tamir Kalifa / The New York Times

― The Facts

The fact is, resiliency needs to be a routine topic of discussion.

150

4

58 lives

degrees

People Effected

Without Power

Tragically Lost

Recorded Temperature

150 million people came under a winter storm warning, the National Weather Service said.

And the region was a little over four minutes away from a statewide blackout that could have lasted months.

In Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky and Missouri, 58 people died, including four killed in a house fire in Sugar Land, Texas, where the power was out, according to police and local media.

It was the coldest temperature in over 70 years and the 2nd coldest temperature ever recorded in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

million

million

-2

The Perryman Group, a Texas-based economic research firm, projected that Winter Storm Uri could end up costing as much as $295 billion.

Why did this happen?

Climate Change Climate change is causing more heat days, more frequent and severe hurricanes and is weakening the jet stream causing potential for extreme winter events.

Deregulation and Isolation Texas deregulated the state’s electricity delivery system to a market-based group of private generators, transmission companies and energy retailers. No state has gone as far as Texas, which has not only turned over the keys to the free market but has also isolated itself from the national grid, limiting the state’s ability to import power when its own generators are floundering. There is a refusal to enforce a “reserve margin” of extra power available above expected demand, unlike all other power systems around North America.

This vulnerable electricity grid lead to power outages and water loss.

Lack of Equipment Winterization There were equipment failures across the board; 80% due to coal and gas-fired plants and 10% due to wind turbines.

There is little financial incentive to invest in weather protection and maintenance. Wind turbines are not equipped with the de-icing equipment routinely installed in the colder climates of the Dakotas and power lines have little insulation. Any company that took such precautions would put itself at a competitive disadvantage.

Pipelines remained inadequately insulated and heaters that might have kept instruments from freezing were never installed. The cold was so severe that the enormous oil and natural gas fields of West Texas froze up, or could not get sufficient power to operate. Though a few plants had stored gas reserves, there was insufficient electricity to pump it.

In the single-digit temperatures, pipelines froze up because there was some moisture in the gas. Pumps slowed. Diesel engines to power the pumps refused to start. Power plants began falling offline in rapid succession as they were overcome by the frigid weather or ran out of fuel to burn. Even a reactor at one of the state’s two nuclear plants went dark, hobbled by frozen equipment. Within hours, 40 percent of the power supply had been lost.

A Solution: RELi

HA Requirement 4.0: Safer Design for Extreme Weather, Wildfire + Seismic Events HA Credit 1.0: Adaptive Design for Extreme Rain, Sea Rise, Storm Surge + Extreme Weather Events + Hazards

Severe Winter Storms HA Requirement 2.0: Fundamental Emergency Operations: Back-up Power & Operations

Fundamental Back-Up Power & Operations Design for protection from power outages from the grid, including those caused by floods, under capacity, civil disturbances, hurricanes, high winds, and intense storms of all kinds including ice, and heatwaves.

Provide permanent back-up power, switching gear and/ or power hook-ups and infrastructure for temporary generators to provide power for critical utilities such as HVAC and boilers.

HA Requirement 3.0: Fundamental Emergency Operations: Thermal Safety (Passive Survivability) During Emergencies

Maximum & Minimum Temperature Management for Facilities “Safe Zone” for Shelter-in-Place Emergencies During periods of grid-provided power and fuel outages, maintain the temperatures and conditions identified above in a portion of the facility identified as a “Safe Zone.”

Providing at least 20 square feet of space per regular occupant. For hospitals and similar facilities, provide 30 square feet of space per regular occupant. Meet all minimum local, state, or federal regulatory criteria that may exceed this criteria for specific occupancy and use types.

Provide hardening of the roof system to prevent potential collapse by designing the snow loads to be 1.2 times the ground snow loads shown in ASCE 7 (or the locally adopted ground snow loads in Case Study areas).

Protect against ice dam formation on low-sloped roofs by preventing ice from forming around drains. For steep-sloped roofs, designs should include increased attic insulation, sealed ceiling penetrations, and waterproofed membranes on roof deck at roof edge (ice and water barrier).

This moisture barrier should extend from the roof edge to at least 2 feet towards the interior of the building, beyond the exterior wall enclosing conditioned space. No localized heat source should be installed in non-conditioned attic space such that it creates localized heating of the roof surface. Uninsulated recessed lights should not be installed where they could cause localized heating of the roof surface. Provide all attic or roof access doors between conditioned and nonconditioned space with proper insulation, sealant, and weather-stripping or gaskets and treat them as exterior doors.

Run water pipes through interior walls and heated spaces to prevent frozen pipes. Insulate/ seal all wall, door, and wall penetrations. Monitor interior building temperature to prevent freezing of interior piping such as domestic water and fire protection sprinkler systems.

Prepare a Snow Event Response and Removal Plan based upon the FEMA Snow Load Safety Guide. The Plan should define at what point snow removal should be initiated as well as how access will be provided to roof for snow removal.

HA Credit 1.0: Advanced Emergency Operations: Thermal Safety, Lighting, Critical Services, Water

Maximum & Minimum Temperature Management (8 points) Except as noted below, during periods of gridprovided power and fuel outages, provide operable windows and/or non-powered natural ventilation and passive cooling and/ or provide adequate power to operate ventilation fans and/ or provide active cooling adequate to maintain indoor temperatures at or below 90 degree F heat index in hot seasons. In cold seasons provide passive heating and/or heat retention strategies and/or back-up power and fuel that maintain interior building temperature at, or above, 60 degrees F. Temperatures must be maintainable for four continuous days without grid-supplied power or fuel.

For hospitals and nursing homes, maintain an 81 degree F heat index maximum during the hot season, 71 degree F minimum during the cold season (required by federal law for nursing homes).

Resource: https://www.usgbc.org/resources/reli-20-rating-guidelines-resilient-design-and-construction

There is something we can do.

Redundant Systems in place in case of freezing

Pre Emergency Strategies | Built Strategies | Post Emergency Strategies |Services

Equip buildings that will become warming centers

Microgrid w/ battery backup or solar power for basic services

(schools, civic buildings)

Insulate/ seal all wall, door, and wall penetrations

Uninsulated recessed

- permanent back-up

lights should not be

power, switching gear

installed where they could

and/or power hook-ups -

cause localized heating of

maintain 60-71 degrees for

the roof surface.

4 days without grid supply

Provide a ‘safe zone’ for shelter in place emergencies 20-30 SF/person

During design process, hold a

Underground

specific meeting with client to discuss

power and

Resilience - using metrics/ probabilities

supply lines

vs expected premiums for such

Create a “What-if” plan for various scenarios.

Infrastructure for temporary generators to provide power for critical utilities such as HVAC and

systems. Provide Resiliency “Playbook”

boilers

for Owner.

Structural capacity of roof planes for snow loads, ice, and extreme rain events

Prepare a Snow Event Response and Removal Plan

Provide all attic or roof access doors between No localized heat source should be installed in non-conditioned attic space such that it creates localized heating of the roof surface.

conditioned and

Building for redundancy

nonconditioned space

back-up - 1.renewables

with proper insulation,

2 battery backup 3. Gas

sealant, and weather-

power generators only

stripping or gaskets and

as last backup (#3 b/c

treat them as exterior

Large Data will need more

doors.

power)

Monitor interior building temperature to prevent freezing of interior piping such as domestic water and fire protection sprinkler systems.

When so much water had to be used (dripping to prevent freezing), we placed coolers/ buckets to collect water in case lack of water became an issue (as it did for many). Could we

Not running wet sprinklers (even with heat trace) in the exterior soffit and using a dry sprinkler system.

Avoiding plumbing fixtures on the exterior wall.

Establish priorities of systems. Plan for staged failures to preserve core functions.

encourage water storage or the ability to capture moving water in case it goes down?

Sub-meters / leak

Think about back-up

detection Insulating water lines that are outside the building Plan to zone powered

insulation

systems for emergency

power strategies based on the building use type - renewable power is

Planning spaces to

Explore Grey

self-sufficient buildings

condense occupants to

Rhinos - low

that are energy

emergency zones (OUMC Ex)

preferable, but RELi allows for temporary generators

backup

Establish budget with Owner at project initiation to plan for disruptions

Locate generators

probability / high

independent. (with

underground to

impact

connections to the grid for

prevent freezing

opposite, adding energy to the grid)

Lobbying leverage - use

Demand response for extreme events - not just heat strain on the grid

the firm’s presence in the Run water pipes through interior walls and heated spaces to prevent frozen pipes

Exterior plumbing/fire protection may start to require insulation or heat trace like it is done in the northern climate zones

state and work with allied groups, like AIA and ULI, to bring about regulatory change for utilities and disaster response.

passive buildings that are climatically comfortable without active systems, even during extreme events

both energy draw and the

For tenants in commercial office lease space, draft a list of resilient building requirements to be included in the work letter/ lease.

use research and/ or SRI funds to build a prototype/ demonstration pavilion - similar to the solar decathlon

Load shedding for prolonged operation / Emergency modes of operation

We believe resilient techniques can be ingrained into every project. With that in mind, we want to show you what’s already been done, so that we can continue to move forward and upward.

Oklahoma University Medical Center: A Case Study

Back-Up

Below Ground

Redundancy

Generators located underground to prevent freezing

Underground power and supply lines

Redundant Systems in place incase of freezing

In 2020, our team completed a major renovation and expansion of the existing patient services at the OU Medical Center Hospital. Oklahoma City is particularly vulnerable to environmental stressors such as tornadoes, earthquakes, drought, and winter storms. To proactively address these challenges, the OUMC team committed to designing with resilient strategies and the project is a pilot for the RELi Resilience Action framework.

So, what can you do?

“I am always impressed by the way Americans, and particularly Texans, in a time of need, pull together to help others. We forget our differences in race, religion, ethnicity and gender, and help each other. To me, this is the essence of resilience… keep going…this is the essence of America, even though we seem to have lost touch with it lately. Help each other. Share your resources.

If you need something call me, call your friends, call on family. Stronger together!”

- TOM REISENBICHLER, MANAGING DIRECTOR

Talk to your clients about what they are experiencing. Now is not the time for “selling services” but showing we can be “of service.”

Projects that are currently in design phases now should examine how weather events like this might impact future use.

Understand the construction activity implications the weather has on schedule, material use, etc.

Extreme Winter Weather in Texas