The National Institute of Building Sciences will be participating in the White House Conference on Resilient Building Codes, to be held tomorrow, May 10, in Washington, D.C. The introductory portion of the event will be streamed live by the White House.

The White House is convening the conference to bring increased attention to the important role of codes and standards in achieving a resilient nation. The Institute served as a liaison between the White House and the building industry leading up to the event. Institute Presidential Advisor Ryan M. Colker, J.D. will moderate a panel of codes and standards developers.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA), National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) and 38 other leaders of America’s design and construction industry today released a report on progress made on the resilience front since the Resilience Building Coalition announced the Building Industry Statement on Resilience two years ago.

The Resilience Building Coalition also released a set of guiding principles to help the building industry adopt resilient design and policies. These include developing and advocating for codes and policies that advance resilience; developing “whole-systems resilient design” approaches for the built environment; and providing guidance, beyond the baseline life-safety codes, that recognizes the importance of fortifying property for individual and community resilience. Since the initial signing, the Coalition has added 19 new signatories (a complete list is available at the end of this release).

The way to achieve resilience in U.S. communities is through an approach that incorporates input, consensus, leadership and action from a broad spectrum of stakeholders, ranging from insurance and finance-related companies, lenders and foundations; forward-thinking communities and government agencies; and important decision makers, including homeowners, businesses and utilities. That is the message National Institute of Building Sciences Multihazard Mitigation Council (MMC) Chairman Kevin Mickey gave during his testimony today to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.

The National Institute of Building Sciences will participate in the White House Forum on Smart Finance for Disaster Resilience, to be held tomorrow, August 3, in Washington, D.C. The introductory portion of the event will be streamed live by the White House from 8:30 am to 10:30 am ET.

The White House Council on Environmental Quality is hosting this forum on innovative finance options to support pre-disaster mitigation and community resilience. The convening is an opportunity for White House and Administration officials to learn about new investment approaches and incentive programs that are being deployed in communities now, and to explore partnerships and opportunities to leverage additional resources in the future.

The White House Council on Environmental Quality hosted a forum this morning on innovative insurance, mortgage, tax and finance-based strategies to support pre-disaster mitigation and community resilience. The White House Forum on Smart Finance for Disaster Resilience brought together White House and Administration officials; representatives from federal, state and local government; mortgage and insurance representatives; codes and standards developers; and others interested in promoting mitigation. Among those participating were representatives from the National Institute of Building Sciences.

Representatives from the National Institute of Building Sciences Multihazard Mitigation Council (MMC) and Council on Finance, Insurance and Real Estate (CFIRE) headed to Capitol Hill September 22 to brief Congressional staff about updated research and recommendations on incentivizing mitigation.

Earlier this year, the Institute went before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management to give testimony based on the MMC-CFIRE white paper, Developing Pre-Disaster Resilience Based on Public and Private Incentivization. That ground-breaking work described how the nation can achieve resilience to hazards in a cost-effective manner through a holistic and integrated set of public, private and hybrid programs that incentivize action. André Carson (D-Indiana), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, requested this follow-up briefing to help educate Congressional staff.

Many experts believe that, as the heart of each community’s economic base, private-sector businesses need to be a significant part of each community’s resilience efforts. The National Institute of Building Sciences Multihazard Mitigation Council (MMC) will host a webinar, “How Does Business Continuity Contribute to Community Resilience?” on Tuesday, November 15, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm ET, to describe the importance of including business continuity (BC) planning activities when discussing community resilience planning. 

Learn what BC and business continuity management (BCM) mean in the private sector; find out about key BC references for selected industries; and hear about good practices as defined by disaster recovery and BC professional associations. The presentation will highlight success stories and look at how local businesses can help communities recover vital functions after disruptive events.

The author and man who “repairs the fabric of cities,” Jonathan F.P. Rose, will serve as the Plenary Keynote Speaker during Building Innovation 2017: The National Institute of Building Sciences Fifth Annual Conference and Expo, to be held January 9-12, in Washington, D.C.

Building Innovation 2017, with its theme of “Collaborating for a High-Performing Future,” correlates well with Mr. Rose’s recently published book, The Well-Tempered City: What Modern Science, Ancient Civilizations and Human Behavior Teach Us about the Future of Urban Life. The book covers many of the topics the Institute’s councils and committees have been addressing to achieve resilient, high-performance buildings and communities. Following his keynote on Wednesday, January 11 from 12:00 – 1:30 pm ET, Mr. Rose will be signing copies of his book, which will be available for purchase on site.

Across the United States, designers, builders, owners, government agencies, manufacturers and others are going beyond the status quo to achieve high-performing, resilient buildings and communities. Now is the time to show off advancements and gain recognition for those buildings, initiatives and innovations that are influencing, informing and inspiring the high-performance planning, design, construction and operations processes. Enter those cutting-edge projects and activities for a chance to win a National Institute of Building Sciences 2017 Beyond Green™ High-Performance Building and Community Award.

The National Institute of Building Sciences Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC) will host a special webinar to address the newest ground motion requirements of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)/Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) standard, ASCE 7-16: Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures. Sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the free webinar, “New Site-Specific Ground Motion Requirements of ASCE 7-16,” is scheduled for Friday, July 28, 2017, from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm ET (11:00 am to 12:00 pm PT).

The presenter, Dr. Charles A. Kircher, is a member of the BSSC Provisions Update Committee (PUC) and BSSC Project 17 Committee, as well as the ASCE 7 Seismic Subcommittee. He will talk about how the new site-specific design requirements were developed to address an identified shortcoming in the method for buildings on softer sites.