agchouston.org Summer2026Cornerstone23 “Although the season officially starts June 1, we begin planning in Q1 for each active and upcoming jobsite’s potential vulnerabilities.” Unfortunately, sometimes the most valuable lessons often emerge from dif- ficult experiences. “We had a job south of I-10 where six inches of rain washed all our equipment away, even though we were 40 feet above the bayou,” Manherz recalled. “After that, we think through a lot more what-ifs.” The 2024 derecho reinforced another important reality: Resilience conver- sations can’t only focus on flooding. Straight-line wind events, prolonged power outages, and extreme heat also play essential roles in how buildings are designed and operated. “The derecho storm proved detrimen- tal to downtown office towers, many of which survived many hurricanes and tropical storms previously,” Perilloux said. The windstorm shattered windows in downtown high-rises, damaged roofs, uprooted large trees and left more than one million customers without power. Just a few weeks later, Hurricane Beryl com- pounded those disruptions by knocking out power to roughly 2.7 million homes and businesses throughout the region. Together, those outages further intensi- fied the need for resilient infrastructure features that owners once viewed as optional upgrades. “Generators,” Perilloux said when asked which resilience features are becoming more common in commercial projects. “Having power to maintain oper- ations when the grid is down has become more of a need than a want.” Similarly, backup power systems are now requested more often not only for health care and industrial facilities but also for office buildings, mixed-use developments, schools and multifamily projects seeking operational continuity during extended outages. The Human Element Climate-related challenges are extending beyond storms altogether as contractors say extreme heat is becoming one of the industry’s most persistent operational risks. “In Texas, heat is already a fifth jobsite focus for our industry, with potentially fatal consequences,” Fox said, referenc- ing OSHA’s longstanding “Fatal Four” construction hazards, which include falls, electrical, struck-by and caught between. “Our ability to effectively protect con- struction workers against heat is becom- ing tougher as temperatures reach new record levels during increasingly longer seasonal periods.” That reality is impacting scheduling, labor productivity, hydration protocols, cooling infrastructure and workforce planning throughout the region. “Until we can build climate-controlled bubbles over projects, there will be con- struction workers exposed to environmen- tal heat,” said Fox. “Resiliency to extreme heat will continue to be a challenge in protecting the health of those workers.” Resilience also requires understanding the makeup of the project team. “The site isn’t the most important thing to some individuals with different priori- ties,” Manherz noted. He points out that team members may need to care for their families, children or elderly parents, or secure medical supplies like oxygen, and it’s important to consider their needs as well. “The ice storms, for example — we contact our people before they get on the road to tell them to stay home so they aren’t in harm’s way. No job is important enough to risk your life trying to get to work.” The Resilience Reality The cumulative effect of these cli- mate-related pressures is steadily chang- ing how Houston builds. Resilience is no longer viewed solely through the lens of code compliance; it’s become a compet- itive necessity tied directly to insurance costs, operational continuity and tenant expectations. “Structural engineers that expect to be around a long time are future-focused,” Manherz said. “They’re watching the codes for elevated limits, even in relevant out-of-state locations that face similar storm circumstances, like Florida.” Even so, industry leaders acknowledge that Houston still struggles with institutional memory after major disasters. “Our memory is sharp close to when the events occur,” Hargus said. “Then the headline ages, it becomes less top of mind, and here we are again when something else happens.” The difference now may be that the disruptions are arriving more frequently and affecting broader portions of the commercial market. Rising insurance scrutiny, stricter regulations, evolving owner expectations and mounting oper- ational risks are all pushing resilience higher on the priority list for Houston’s construction industry. “The main gap is proactive risk com- munication,” Perilloux said. “Insurers expect defined mitigation strategies, while many sites tend to be reactive and under-documented.” For contractors, developers and design teams, the challenge moving forward will be balancing resilience investments against the economic realities of one of the nation’s busiest commercial construc- tion markets. Elevated slabs, hardened envelopes, expanded detention systems, redundant power infrastructure and sophisticated preparedness plans all add cost. However, recent years have demon- strated that the cost of failing to adapt can be far greater. The occurrences of hurricanes, flood- ing, wind damage, extreme heat and severe weather can’t be changed, but Houston’s contractors can build differ- ently, prepare earlier, communicate better and design projects with a more realistic understanding of the environmental con- ditions shaping the Gulf Coast’s future. No matter what meteorological events hit the region, contractors will need to be proactive rather than reactive to weather the storms. Resilience is now central to nearly every phase of commercial development
