by Brianna Crandall — May 16, 2016 — Building codes set the baseline for the safe design and construction of homes, schools, and workplaces, providing the minimum requirements to adequately safeguard the health, safety and welfare of building occupants. A recent Fact Sheet from the White House states that the impacts of climate change — including hotter temperatures, more extreme weather, sea level rise, and more severe drought — pose significant challenges for buildings and homes, many of which were not built to withstand the future impacts of climate change.
The White House hosted a Conference on Resilient Building Codes (see video online) last week to highlight the critical role of building codes in furthering community resilience and the importance of incorporating resilience and the future impacts of climate change in the codes and standards development process.
As part of the event, the Administration highlighted federal and private sector efforts aimed at advancing the principles of resilience in building codes and standards, and building design. President Obama declared May as National Building Safety Month in order to recognize and pay tribute to those who ensure the safety and resilience of the nation’s buildings, and to reaffirm our commitment to upholding and abiding by strong and effective building safety standards.
New federal actions announced last week include:
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): Incorporation of resilient building codes into housing programs
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Institute of Building Sciences: Update to the 2005 Multihazard Mitigation Council Mitigation Saves study
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): Disaster deductible for the Public Assistance Program
- General Services Administration (GSA): Climate change risk screening for Capital Investment Leasing Program
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST): Codes and standards for resilience to tornadoes
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Resilient building codes resource Website
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Smart Growth Code Fixes for Climate Adaptation report
- Mitigation Framework Leadership Group (MitFLG): Implementation Strategy for Increasing Disaster Resilience through Federal Support for Building Code Adoption and Enforcement
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Infrastructure Protection: Community Infrastructure Resilience Toolkit
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: Incorporation of resilient building codes into rural housing programs
- U.S. Department of Transportation: Resilient design of the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
For more details of each action, see the White House Fact Sheet.
New private sector actions highlighted last week include:
- The Alliance to Save Energy commits to incorporating resilience into existing Alliance building energy code education, development, and implementation efforts.
- The American Institute of Architects announces that it will create a resilience curriculum for the professional development of architects including resilient design and decision-making on hazard mitigation, climate adaptation, and community resilience.
- The American Society of Interior Designers commits to advancing the awareness of resilient design during its Impact Summit in August of 2016.
- The American Society of Landscape Architects commits to publishing a resilience toolkit that will include research, guides, projects, and other resources to help professionals design resilient landscapes at various scales.
- The Associated General Contractors of America commits to supporting a coordinated national strategy to invest in infrastructure and provide education and outreach to construction professionals on resiliency initiatives.
- ASHRAE commits to utilizing member research funding to support research related to resilience in buildings and building systems.
- The Building Owners and Managers Association International commits to creating Webinars focused on existing buildings and code adoption to provide guidance and best practices on how to increase resiliency of buildings.
- In 2016, the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute is launching a comprehensive resilience education program incorporating Web-based tools and local learning resources to convey best practices for resilient design and construction.
- The Federal Alliance for Safe Homes is launching a new 2016 national hurricane resilience initiative, #HurricaneStrong, through collaboration with FEMA, NOAA / National Weather Service, The Home Depot, and The Weather Channel.
- Florida International University commits to releasing peer-reviewed publications that provide benefit / cost analyses on building code enforcement and effectiveness to inform community decisions to replace, relocate, or retrofit their homes.
- The Green Building Initiative will convene a resilience task force as part of its efforts to update and revise its ANSI / GBI 01-2010 Standard, an assessment protocol for green commercial buildings.
- The Illuminating Engineering Society, through its newly formed Standing Committee on Resilience, will assess lighting’s role in advancing building and community resilience.
- The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety is committed to working with FEMA, other Federal agencies, and state and local jurisdictions to increase public awareness and use of FEMA P-804, Wind Retrofit Guide for Residential Buildings.
- The International Association of Fire Chiefs will develop training for the fire and emergency services focused on reducing community risk in order to support a whole community approach to resilience.
- The International Code Council announces that it will co-lead an effort to organize an inclusive, nationwide coalition to create and develop the country’s first Whole-Community metric for resilience.
- The Laborers’ International Union of North America is committed to incorporating the latest knowledge to advance resilience and the implementation of building code provisions through its network of sites offering Department of Labor approved apprenticeship programs.
- The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies announces that it will lead the creation of a national strategy for investing in mitigation.
- The National Concrete Masonry Association commits to developing materials supporting a refined articulation of resilient construction as construction designed and built to survive foreseeable catastrophic events and continue near normal operation within a short recovery period.
- The National Fire Protection Association announces the establishment of a new NFPA technical committee project to develop NFPA 1300 Standard for Community Risk Reduction with an anticipated release in 2017.
- The National Institute of Building Sciences commits to convening key industry stakeholders to develop recommendations to advance resilience and long-term performance in codes, standards, and other policies.
- The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors commits to incorporating resilience practices into the RICS Practice Statements with which all RICS members are required to comply.
- The Urban Land Institute announces that in 2016 it will launch a new Returns on Resilience Web site, which will spotlight design and development leaders in the real estate industry and highlight the business case for resilient buildings.
- The U.S. Green Building Council commits to actively engaging through its partnership in Resilient Communities for America and additional efforts to promote resilient building codes in communities across the country.
- The U.S. Resiliency Council will launch a Building Rating System for Earthquakes in 2016 through which it will advocate for safe buildings and a better public understanding of building performance.
- The Verisk family of companies commits to expanding the Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule (BCEGS) program to aid in a better understanding of the losses avoided and the overall resiliency of a community through the effective enforcement of building codes by developing a new BCEGS grading schedule that will incorporate additional data elements related to resiliency.
