Perceptions for Natural Disaster Preparedness among Historic Houses of Worship

9 pages•Published: May 15, 2022

Sandeep Langar, Anthony Vannette and Angela Lombardi

Abstract

Historic houses of worship have traditionally been cornerstones for society and have the potential to become resilience hubs for the community in response to the increasing impacts of natural disasters. However, given that most historic houses of worship are decades or centuries old, the maintenance paradigm for such buildings is unknown and should be investigated before they can be considered resilience hubs. Therefore, the research investigated the building maintenance paradigm of historic houses of worship in coastal Texas counties impacted by Hurricane Harvey. The study also determined the role played by the historic houses of worship in response to a natural disaster. The study utilized an online survey method in which the instrument was shared with historic houses of worship stakeholders. Pre-established criteria were used as parameters to determine respondents. About 17 out of 40 historic houses of worship in 16 counties responded to the study. The study found considerable vulnerabilities in building maintenance protocols, maintenance budget, and the lack of professionals to maintain the historic houses of worship. Most respondents also indicated the need for standard guidelines to support historic houses of worship’s maintenance. The study also found that historic houses of worship volunteer in response to natural disasters.

Keyphrases: building maintenance, disaster resilience, historic places of worship, resilience hubs

In: Tom Leathem, Wes Collins and Anthony Perrenoud (editors). ASC2022. 58th Annual Associated Schools of Construction International Conference, vol 3, pages 38-46.

Links:	https://easychair.org/publications/paper/36Wj
	https://doi.org/10.29007/9tkv

BibTeX entry

@inproceedings{ASC2022:Perceptions_Natural_Disaster_Preparedness,
  author    = {Sandeep Langar and Anthony Vannette and Angela Lombardi},
  title     = {Perceptions for Natural Disaster Preparedness among Historic Houses of Worship},
  booktitle = {ASC2022. 58th Annual Associated Schools of Construction International Conference},
  editor    = {Tom Leathem and Wes Collins and Anthony Perrenoud},
  series    = {EPiC Series in Built Environment},
  volume    = {3},
  publisher = {EasyChair},
  bibsource = {EasyChair, https://easychair.org},
  issn      = {2632-881X},
  url       = {/publications/paper/36Wj},
  doi       = {10.29007/9tkv},
  pages     = {38-46},
  year      = {2022}}

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