On June 4, 2013, we posted a video providing a general description of the "Buoyant Foundation Project" which provides an alternative approach to flood protection for existing homes in New Orleans and South Louisiana. At that time we promised we would look into this innovative flood protection measure and get back to you on what we found.
General Information
Dr. Elizabeth C. English is founder and director of the The Buoyant Foundation Project (BFP) and Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Dr. English was formerly Associate Professor - Research at the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center in Baton Rouge and Assistant Professor of Architecture at Tulane University in New Orleans.
The mission of the BFP, founded in 2006, is to support the recovery of New Orleans' unique and endangered traditional cultures by providing a strategy for the safe and sustainable restoration of traditional housing.
Flood-proofing the city's traditional elevated wooden shotgun houses by retrofitting them with buoyant (amphibious) foundations avoids the destruction of neighborhood character that results from permanent static elevation high off the ground.
Buoyant Foundations provide increased safety and resilience in cases of extreme flooding and support the restoration of both the physical and the social structures of pre-Katrina New Orleans neighborhoods.
According to Dr. English, the idea of a floating house is a little revolutionary, but not unprecedented. “It’s an idea that’s catching on around the world,” she said.
English was a consultant on the lone floating house in Louisiana's 9th Ward, built by the Brad Pitt-sponsored "Make it Right Foundation". There are also floating houses in the Netherlands, and some floating fishing camps along the Mississippi River, though the camps are not properly permitted by local authorities, English said.
The house works like a floating dock. A steel frame that holds the flotation foundation is attached to the underside of the house. Guidance poles are attached to the frame to allow the house to move up and down. When flooding occurs, the steel frame keeps the home stable while guidance poles keep the house from going anywhere except straight up and down on top of the water.
“The time for the application of amphibious houses has come. It’s a much, much better solution socially, and in terms of cost,” English said. “People prefer houses on the ground.” You’ll still have to evacuate — the technology isn’t meant to keep people safe inside, just keep their houses dry. The advantage is that your home can stay on the ground the rest of the time.
But officials aren’t buying into the new technology just yet.
FEMA doesn’t endorse floating houses as a good strategy for protecting against hurricane flooding. Also, the National Flood Insurance Program, won’t insure floating houses because they’re not considered anchored to the ground. To be eligible for flood insurance, FEMA requires that structures in flood-prone areas be "adequately anchored to prevent floatation, collapse, or lateral movement." Additionally, a floating home would not meet elevation standards, and you could not purchase flood insurance.
But officials aren’t buying into the new technology just yet.
FEMA doesn’t endorse floating houses as a good strategy for protecting against hurricane flooding. Also, the National Flood Insurance Program, won’t insure floating houses because they’re not considered anchored to the ground. To be eligible for flood insurance, FEMA requires that structures in flood-prone areas be "adequately anchored to prevent floatation, collapse, or lateral movement." Additionally, a floating home would not meet elevation standards, and you could not purchase flood insurance.
The traditional option for protecting homes from flooding has been elevation onto stilts. But that option isn't ideal, said Dr. English. If you elevate your house to 10-12 feet, that will satisfy the law, but then you have to deal with increased wind load and stress. Dr. English queried, "You put your house 10 feet up on stilts, and now how are you going to get your grandmother, who is in a wheelchair, up and down all those stairs?"
Initial Assessment
Based on our initial research into this issue a general consensus was reached that this is a very innovative and exciting alternative approach to residential flood mitigation, in lieu of permanently raising a structure, and well worth looking into. Consequently, Sophia Valakis-DeVirgilio of West 12th Road and Carol Fox of West 11th Road, who have expended a lot of time exploring this issue, reached out to Dr. English advising her that there was great interest in her alternative flood protection project and after several conversations she accepted our invitation to visit Broad Channel to further discuss this issue with us and determine if our island community's infrastructure would be capable of sustaining this floating home concept.
On Friday, July 5, 2013, the following Broad Channel residents had the pleasure of meeting with Dr. English on West 12th Road.
Follow-Up
On Friday, July 5, 2013, the following Broad Channel residents had the pleasure of meeting with Dr. English on West 12th Road.
Sophia Valakis-DeVirgilio (W12th Rd)
Carol Fox (W11th Rd)
Nicole Weedon (W12th Rd)
Peter Mahon (W12th Rd)
Dr. English explained that she is currently seeking to identify flood hazard areas that would be interested in pursuing her technology to the extent of selecting one appropriate property and interested homeowner that would allow for this floating or amphibious technology to be installed in lieu of permanently raising that structure. This "buoyant home" would be used as a model to convince federal and local government authorities of the viability of such a system within the New York City coastal area.
For this initial prototype buoyant home project, the property (home) would ideally be a one-story wood frame rectangular (not "L" shaped) structure.
Additionally, because of FEMA's present reluctance to endorse this "floating home" concept and the NFIP's refusal to insure same, the home in question should be mortgage free.
Dr. English also explained that she has already been in contact with the N.Y.C. Department of Buildings which has expressed an interest in this alternative flood protection technology and indicated that if she can identify a suitable property, the requisite permits would be issued.
We then accompanied Dr. English on a tour of our Broad Channel community during which she identified several homes that would be "perfect" for this initial prototype endeavor. All that would be lacking would be an interest on the part of an appropriate homeowner to participate.
As the day drew to a close, we thanked Dr. English for her interest in our community here in Broad Channel and for taking the time to personally travel to meet with us regarding this issue. We also assured her that we would disseminate this information to all community residents with a view towards gauging the level of interest that might exist regarding this alternative flood protection technology and advise her of our findings.
Any Broad Channel homeowner with questions regarding this project or who might be interested in pursuing this issue further should email us at:
For this initial prototype buoyant home project, the property (home) would ideally be a one-story wood frame rectangular (not "L" shaped) structure.
Additionally, because of FEMA's present reluctance to endorse this "floating home" concept and the NFIP's refusal to insure same, the home in question should be mortgage free.
Dr. English also explained that she has already been in contact with the N.Y.C. Department of Buildings which has expressed an interest in this alternative flood protection technology and indicated that if she can identify a suitable property, the requisite permits would be issued.
We then accompanied Dr. English on a tour of our Broad Channel community during which she identified several homes that would be "perfect" for this initial prototype endeavor. All that would be lacking would be an interest on the part of an appropriate homeowner to participate.
As the day drew to a close, we thanked Dr. English for her interest in our community here in Broad Channel and for taking the time to personally travel to meet with us regarding this issue. We also assured her that we would disseminate this information to all community residents with a view towards gauging the level of interest that might exist regarding this alternative flood protection technology and advise her of our findings.
Any Broad Channel homeowner with questions regarding this project or who might be interested in pursuing this issue further should email us at:
w12thrdblockassociation@gmail.com
At the conclusion of our meeting, several of us accompanied Dr. English to Breezy Point where she inspected a property in that community whose owner has expressed an interest in a similar buoyant home prototype.
Dr. English was so generous with her time and knowledge, her ideas and technology are so promising. There is no way to thank her enough for visiting us and offering her help to our community.
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