EDWARD (EDDIE) JON CAZAYOUX, FAIA
Principle, EnviroMental Design
Reducing Flood Risk and Increasing Community Resilience through the Master Plan
Friday, September 9 @ 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
1 HSW
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OUTLINE
Coastal Louisiana faces one of the highest land loss rates in the world, which puts our communities, regional economy, and national energy and transportation infrastructure at risk. The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority is responding to the crisis by developing a comprehensive Flood Risk and Resilience Program to support communities’ ability to reduce flood risk and strengthen the state’s capacity to adapt to an uncertain future. The program focuses on conducting a refined coastal flood risk vulnerability analysis, defining nonstructural project areas, prioritizing projects, and facilitating the implementation of the projects. The Program aims to reduce flood risk in coastal Louisiana communities through residential elevation, non-residential flood proofing, and voluntary acquisition projects and prioritize risk reduction measures for communities that are physically and social vulnerable to coastal flooding. This work builds off of the data produced from the 2017 Coastal Master Plan modeling analysis which uses an expanded geographic study area and increases the spatial resolution of the flood depth and damage data. Flood depths are calculated for a 1km grid cell and a wider range of storms are included, specifically 10-year and 25-year flood events; to more fully capture risk and the benefits projects offer to reduce risk. In addition to evaluating factors such as cost-effectiveness and flood depths, the 2017 Plan will include other elements that capture communities’ social and economic vulnerabilities, such as percent of population in the project area that is considered low to moderate income and percent of properties that are classified as severe repetitive loss. The program has developed a range of initiatives that serve as useful precedents for other local governments or state agencies seeking to better understand their flood risk and communicate those risks to the public.
BIOGRAPHY
Edward (Eddie) Jon Cazayoux, FAIA is an architect who’s firm, EnvironMental Design, practices sustainable architecture and historic preservation. He is a member of the US Green Building Council and American Solar Energy Society. He has received awards for his work from the US Dept of Energy, US Dept. of the Interior, US Green Building Council, AIA Louisiana, and the State of Louisiana-Energy Division. Eddie is a retired Professor of Architecture in the School of Architecture & Design at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette where he taught for 30 years and was the Director for 13 of those years. He has been awarded Distinguish Professor by his University and held the Regents Professorship in Architecture. He was elevated to Fellowship in the American Institute of Architects and awarded Professor Emeritus by the University. He has a Masters of Architecture and a Masters of City Planning from Georgia Tech. He received his undergraduate degree in Architecture from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now known as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette). He has written three books on sustainable design and historic preservation. He has received many grants for his research and work in sustainable design & construction and historic preservation. He has presented papers on sustainable design and French colonial architecture & settlements throughout the world.