C-Suite Perspectives Climate Risk Is Rising. Is Our Infrastructure Ready?
Mar 9, 2026
Greg Stonehouse, Chief Strategy Officer at HDR and infrastructure resilience expert, discusses how rising climate risk is reshaping design. He covers shifting design assumptions, resilience across roads, water, and energy, the economics of nature-based solutions, translating climate data into decisions, and innovations like AI and real-time controls.
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Resilience As A Core Design Parameter
- Resilience is now a core design parameter, not an add-on for projects.
- HDR integrates resilience to reduce economic losses and keep essential services functional amid increasingly unpredictable climate extremes.
Brownfield Redevelopment With Green Infrastructure
- HDR transformed a flood-prone brownfield with a green solution that cleaned the site and created park space.
- Elevated walkways preserved park use during storms and the project cost less than a gray infrastructure solution while spurring neighborhood development.
Quantify Climate Risk Early With Triple Bottom Line
- Use climatologists and meteorological science early to quantify future climate risks for projects.
- Apply triple bottom line analysis to capture social, environmental, and economic impacts and facilitate transparent decisions without framing it solely as a climate debate.