Energy and water autonomy for off-grid waterfront floating structures Waterfront communities are the most susceptible to climate change and to extreme weather events. Beyond the risk of flooding itself, centralized water and energy systems are prone to failure under dynamic storm conditions; the connectivity of sewage and water supply in waterfront neighborhoods is often compromised during storms. In 2012, during Hurricane Sandy, supply and distribution chains to Red Hook, Brooklyn were disrupted and sewers were backed up, which resulted in untreated wastewater flooding the streets. A waterfront floating laboratory prototype. (Image: Thread collective + Oasis Design Lab) The RETI Center’s BlueCity Lab (BCL) project was born in response to these failures. The BCL will be a water-borne physical space and community support structure sited in Red Hook’s Gowanus Bay. Similarly, the Philadelphia Water Department has been working on a floating classroom on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia.