Building for the Future: Florida’s Hurricane-Resilient, Eco-Friendly Homes

When Hurricane Michael hit the Florida Panhandle five years ago, it left boats, cars and trucks piled up to the windows of Bonny Paulson`s home in the tiny coastal community of Mexico Beach, Florida, even though the house rests on pillars 14 feet above the ground. But Paulson`s home, with a rounded shape that looks something like a ship, shrugged off Category 5 winds that might otherwise have collapsed it.

‘I wasn`t nervous at all,’ Paulson said, recalling the warning to evacuate. Her house lost only a few shingles, with photos taken after the storm showing it standing whole amid the wreckage of almost all the surrounding homes.

Some developers are building homes like Paulson`s with an eye toward making them more resilient to the extreme weather that`s increasing with climate change, and friendlier to the environment at the same time.