We can't see into the future. Yet. Until then, we'd rather take action based on data than sit back and get caught off guard.

For years we've measured and foreseen the impacts climate change will bring to our campuses. We've considered potential vulnerabilities of the Medical Campus, which sits in an area disposed to flooding. And we changed building standards to mitigate effects of climate change, minimizing construction below the "elevation of resilience" defined by our Climate Action Plan (2' above the top of the Charles River Dam).

Want proof?

The Rajen Kilachand Center for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering, which opened in fall 2017, was designed and built with no basement. And all mechanical and electrical rooms are on the second and third floors.

Another prescient project, the iconic Center for Computing & Data Sciences, which broke ground in 2020, has a first-floor elevation that's 1.25' above the elevation of resilience. Ground-level access points vulnerable to flooding are few, and can be protected by temporary barriers.

Learn more about the ways we're making our University more resilient. Read the Climate Action Plan.