Home Tour: Sustainability & Resilience Features
Saturday, April 25, 2026 - 1:00pm to 4:00pm

After the Big Earthquake: Is Your Home Ready?

In Tilt, a massive Cascadia earthquake reshapes the Pacific Northwest in an instant. Roads fracture. Power fails. Families are left to navigate a new reality.  What would that look like here in Lake Oswego?

As part of the Lake Oswego Public Library 2026 LO Reads program, the Lake Oswego Sustainability Network (LOSN) invites you to experience what real preparedness looks like — before disaster strikes.

This home and school tour shows how local residents and our school district are planning for the moment when the grid goes down.

On the Home Tour, You’ll See:

  • Rooftop solar paired with battery storage to keep lights and appliances on during outages
  • Electric vehicles (EVs) capable of supplying emergency backup power to an entire home or essential appliances
  • Water catchment systems and resilient garden food production systems
  • Fully electric homes powered by heat pumps and induction cooking — eliminating reliance on fossil fuels

Practical strategies to maintain refrigeration, heating, cooking, and communications during extended outages

These aren’t futuristic concepts — they are systems already installed in Lake Oswego homes.

At the School Visit, You’ll Learn:

  • How new schools are being built to Seismic Level 4, meaning they can be occupied immediately after a major earthquake
  • How solar panels and battey storage support both daily operations and emergency needs
  • How electric school buses contribute to cleaner air, battery storage and future resilienceIn an earthquake, schools may become community lifelines. See how ours are preparing.

This tour connects climate action with disaster readiness — because sustainability is not just about reducing emissions. It’s about ensuring our community can function when systems fail.

Registration is required: www.lakeoswegoreads.org/register
All homes are located in Lake Oswego. Addresses and a description of systems installed in each location will be emailed Thursday, April 23.  You can tour all of them, or those that suit your interests. 

Thank you for the generous support from our Title sponsor, Portland General Electric and our Event sponsors A&R Solar and West + Co. Realty.

Funded in 2013, the Lake Oswego Sustainability Network (LOSN.org) works to promote an economically, ecologically, and socially healthy community.

For more information, contact Nancy Niland at nniland@lakeoswego.city or (503) 675-2538.