On February 20^th, Steinberg Hart CEO David Hart joined Yahoo’s “On the Move” to discuss the impact climate change is having on the architectural and real estate development industries. According to Hart, both architectural philosophy and strategy have changed to better address the growing desire for environmentally-friendly projects, on both commercial and residential levels.

Homeowners and property owners are worried about protecting their investments; Steinberg Hart has responded by paying extra attention to designing resilient buildings that aspire to stand secure even 100 years from now.

“People are thinkingabout water rise as something that’s going to reach their feet and flood their homes. The reality is that it’s going to back up our infrastructure – all of our storm-drains, all of our sewers – long before it actually reaches our feet.”

Hart cited natural events such as Hurricane Sandy and its effect on New York City’s civic infrastructure as an example of how climate change has already progressed to a point where intervention and change are necessary.

 Addressing both short-term and long-term climate concerns, Hart discussed how the sustainability movement has matured over time: “Over the last 20 years I would say we were in the ‘Tesla-phase’ of sustainability. . . It was a luxury; it was an initiative – the top 1% of buildings were sustainable. Now, we have over 100 LEED projects that our firm has completed. It is becoming more and more commonplace.”

Watch more: Steinberg Hart CEO Weighs In on Climate Change Designs