While reduced activity associated with the COVID-19 lockdowns is expected to cut carbon emissions by 4-7% this year, the decrease is insignificant in the long run. According to Oksana Tarasova, WMO Chief of Atmospheric and Environment Research Division, although it looked like the pandemic had brought the world to a standstill, carbon emissions continued almost unabated because lockdowns do not reduce overall energy consumption. Lockdowns only affect mobility.

Carbon is emitted whether it's the energy being used to heat your home work space or the carbon footprint left from sending an email that typically would have been an in-person conversation. Furthermore, with the fear of COVID-19 transmission, there has been an unprecedented decrease in mass transit ridership. This continued decrease will have a dramatic effect on carbon emissions as more people opt to buy cars and steer clear of rideshare options.

Many buildings have sat empty for the better part of a year.

What are the possible health risks that people face with returning to these unoccupied spaces? Our panel of experts will discuss this and how they see the building industry recalibrating itself to adjust to a post-pandemic world.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports the temporary shutdown or reduced operation of a building and reductions in normal water use can create hazards for returning occupants. These hazards include mold, Legionella (the cause of Legionnaires’ disease), and lead and copper contamination.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted nearly every industry, the way business will be conducted moving forward has fundamentally changed across the board. The building industry must consider transformational initiatives to thrive beyond this pandemic. Our mission now is not only building resilient buildings but a resilient industry as well. In this installment of the Resilience 2021 series, we will discuss:

• Health risks unoccupied buildings pose
• Proper water and plumbing protocols
• UV light decontamination
• Intelligent buildings and the utilization of AI

FEMA Region 5 presents the next webinar in the Strategic Partnerships Series. May is Building Safety Month, so we are bringing you two experienced professionals in the area of building codes research, building codes adoption and setting your sights on resilience. Jiqiu (JQ) Yuan, PE, PhD, PMP, with the National Institute of Building Sciences, and Mr. Ryan M. Colker, J.D., CAE, will speak to what community decision makers should know about building codes and how to build supportive partnerships in the research, public and private sector.

Floods are the most common and widespread of all weather-related natural disasters. According to testimony from Federal Emergency Management Agency representative Michael Grimm, flood damage cost approximately $17 billion each year between 2010 and 2018. Rising sea levels and extreme weather could cause $20 billion of flood damage to at-risk U.S. homes this year, rising to $32 billion by 2051, according to recent research by flood research non-profit First Street Foundation.

There are many causes of flooding. They include heavy rains, storm surge, quickly melting snow, and breaks in dams or levees. A flood can occur within minutes and last a long period of time. No state or territory in the U.S. is spared, and tragically, floods kill more people in the U.S. than tornadoes, hurricanes or lightning.

In this installment of the Resilience 2021 series, we will cover:

• Flood resilience and mitigation efforts
• The National Flood Insurance Program
• Flood risk in the Continental U.S.

Will the 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season be a record breaker? Meteorologists from Colorado State University’s Department of Atmospheric Science anticipate a highly active season, predicting 17 named storms and eight hurricanes—four of which they predict will be Category 3 or higher. The Weather Channel’s prediction is slightly different with 18 named storms and eight hurricanes—three of which it expects will be Category 3 or higher.

In 2020, the Atlantic Hurricane Season saw a historic year with 30 tropical storms, which included 14 hurricanes. The worst storm to make landfall was Hurricane Iota, a Category 5 storm that packed 160 mile-per-hour (mph) winds.

The season begins June 1 and runs through November 30. With storms forming as early as May, it is never too early to start preparing. Please join us as we discuss:

• Hurricane risks and mitigation
• Factors for storm strength
• Future of the Atlantic Hurricane Season

The Pandemic Accelerated the Move to Virtual Work Environments. The Built Environment Adapted and Excelled with New Technology.

The COVID-19 crisis presented architecture, engineering and construction companies with an enormous challenge: transitioning an industry long reliant on personal relationships and in-person connections to a remote, digital environment. Like other hands-on sectors, builders and other trades can’t ply their trades over Zoom. However, the pandemic accelerated the need to bring building sites into the digital era through automated tools. Digital technology played a critical role in getting the $11 trillion construction industry back on its feet. The shift seen in the building industry not only shows its resilience, but it is one of the major positive changes to emerge from the crisis.

Join us for the next installment of the Resilience 21 webinar series as we discuss:

• Safety and efficiency of virtual inspections
• Carbon footprint reductions
• Building codes & standards in a digital environment

Nearly half of the U.S. population (150 million people) reside in portions of 42 states that are at risk of experiencing a damaging earthquake within the next 50 years. That’s according to the NIST-FEMA Special Publication Recommended Options for Improving the Built Environment for Post-Earthquake Reoccupancy and Functional Recovery Time.

In regions of high seismic risk, where an earthquake hasn’t occurred for some time, scenario studies predict deaths in the thousands, injuries in the tens of thousands, and hundreds of billions of dollars in direct economic losses, along with long-term, destabilizing impacts to community function.

Our nation’s seismic risk is largely mitigated through earthquake-resistant buildings, which are regulated by model building codes. Federal policy now calls for improving functional recovery of the built environment to increase earthquake resilience at the community level. Functional recovery design represents a significant shift from the current safety-based practice for the building design and construction industry.

Join us as we discuss:

• Seismic functional recovery
• Community resilience
• Lifeline infrastructure systems
• Importance of “building beyond code”
• Seismic design and construction of buildings and other structures

The built environment is being challenged by many trends and disruptors: digital transformation, off-site manufacturing, sustainability concerns, an aging workforce leading to lack of skilled labor, as well as COVID-19, which is affecting the health, safety, and well-being of workers.

Organizations must remain resilient to meet challenges and continue to grow and flourish.

To become resilient, we must respond and adopt new ways of thinking and working. Building information modeling (BIM) can help address the climate, urbanization, performance and skills shortage challenges, alongside the implementation of many best practice approaches. Organizations that seize this opportunity will be able to compete successfully in global markets.

If BIM is not yet part of your business strategy, join our webinar to learn critical information to help you build with BIM. Our panelists will explore:

• Fundamentals of building information modeling
• Why your organization should adopt BIM and what the benefits are
• Where you should start if you do not have a BIM strategy
• The National BIM Standard-United States (NBIMS) core requirements & BIM ISO 19650

The 2021 National Disaster Resilience Conference will bring together the nation’s foremost voices in the disaster safety and resilience movement. Keynote presentations, discussion panels, and spotlight topics will focus on the latest in science, policy, and practice to create more resilient buildings and disaster-resilient communities in the face of earthquakes, floods, hail, hurricanes, lightning, tornadoes, and wildfires, as well as human-caused disasters.

The frequency and severity of flood-inducing storms is projected to rise over the next several decades, placing a premium on the need to adapt now and better prepare communities for current and future impacts of climate change. 

The State Resilience Partnership, a network of organizations committed to support state planning and implementation efforts—convened by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the American Flood Coalition—conducted first-of-its-kind research on resilience and adaptation planning in the U.S. Please join us for a conversation with our research partner, the Urban Institute, and state Chief Resilience Officers to discuss how state governments across the country are rising to the challenge with long-range adaptation plans and integrated resilience efforts across sectors.