Adapting to Drought and Deluge

(Originally published in the May 2012 issues of Merchant Magazine and Building Products Digest.)

The weather lately has been weird and wild, but get used to it.  It’s the new normal.  Climate scientists tell us that weather extremes will be more common and that long-term patterns are shifting.  This doesn’t just make the weather report on the evening news more interesting.  Consider, for example, that shifting rainfall patterns can affect water supplies, livelihoods, and lifestyles.  Some communities are facing more severe drought or drought for the first time in living memory.  Some places are seeing much more rain, and some are getting their rain or snow sooner or later in the season.  Any of these changes can cause big problems for communities who fail to adapt. 

This is where you, the home and shelter dealer, can come to the rescue.  Changing weather patterns, whether drought or deluge, create opportunities for you to do good for your community and do well while doing it. 

For starters, educate yourself about water issues in your areas of operation.  If you’re in a community already affected, you may already be aware of local and regional rainfall patterns and water supplies.  If not, there are good resources online, such as National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) website.

Second, build your expertise in those mitigation and adaptation strategies your community needs.  In a drought?  Look into rainwater harvesting, greywater recycling systems, high-efficiency toilets, even composting toilets. (Believe it or not, collecting the rain that falls on your roof is illegal in some places, and residential greywater systems are not approved in all communities.)  Buy and read “Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond”, by Brad Lancaster, one of the nation’s leading experts, then share it with your staff.

If your community faces periodic deluge and flooding, there are short term mitigation and longer term adaptations to evaluate, too.  For example, in West Coast urban areas facing huge El Niño storms, rainbarrels can help reduce the runoff that overwhelms storm sewer systems. Softening urban hard surfaces and hardscaping to allow for “slowing, spreading, and sinking” rainfall, also reduces runoff and recharges aquifers. Permeable pavers, anyone?  And for flooding, dry flood proofing measures and elevation may be viable short term strategies for dealing with periodic flood risks in some instances.  But flood mitigation is a complicated legal and technical domain – do your homework before diving in.

Once you and your key staff are prepared, start building the stock and services around the solutions best suited for your community.  Water conservation measures inside the home might be one category that works in every part of the country.  And nearly all toilet manufacturers offer High Efficiency Toilets, but have a look at Niagara Conservation.  They make it easy to source a range of water saving devices, including their Ultra High Efficiency Stealth .08GPF toilet. 

I’m also a big fan of greywater recycling.  It’s still early days for residential systems, and most solutions are do it yourself, or “green it yourself,” projects, but this presents a wonderful merchandising opportunity.  Pull all the right components into a robust display, along with the right tools, some books, and related products.  Check out GreywaterAction.org for ideas. 

And catching the rain - it’s a no-brainer for many regions of the country.  The key component is storage and the most innovative solution I’ve seen is RainTechnologies’ RainSpace.  It’s flexible, capacious, and low cost.

These kinds of solutions may require some thinking outside the box and a little extra effort.  But they can earn LEED credits for your green builders, conserve water, and improve quality of life in your community.  You’ll be doing well by doing good.