Earlier this spring, Wiley released the twelfth edition of Architectural Graphic Standards, its seminal reference for building design and construction professionals. Among the updates and features in the edition is a newly added chapter on resilience developed under the leadership of the National Institute of Building Sciences.

Entitled ‘Building Resiliency,’ the chapter begins, “Natural and manmade hazardous events can impose a devastating cost upon society…Stakeholders of civil infrastructure have a vested interest in reducing these costs by improving and maintaining operational and physical performance of facilities.”

The coverage starts with the four “R”s of resilience: robustness, resourcefulness, rapid recovery and redundancy, and looks at ways to incorporate resilience at the individual building and overall community level. The chapter addresses both natural hazards, such as high winds, earthquakes, flooding and fire, as well as man-caused threats, including blast resistance; chemical and biological protection; radiation and nuclear threats; ballistics; forced entry; and cybersecurity.

It is broken down into the following sections:

• Components of Building Resilience
• Hazard-Specific Building-Resilience Considerations
• Maintainability
• Safety
• Security
• Security Planning and Design: Continuing Education
• Sustainability
• Good Practices in Resilience-Based Architectural Design
• Crime Prevention through Environmental Design
• Lifecycle Considerations in Resilience-Based Designs
• Assessment and Acceptance

Roger J. Grant, CSI, CDT, program director at the National Institute of Building Sciences, coordinated the team of resilience-related subject matter experts, which included: Martin Denholm, AIA, LEED AP, BD+C, BSCP of SmithGroupJJR; Mohammed Ettouney PhD, PE, MBA, F.AEI, Dist. M.ASCE of Mohammed Ettouney, LLC; Robert Smilowitz PhD, PE of Thornton Tomasetti- Weidlinger Protective Design Practice; Joseph L. Smith, PSP and Kenneth W. Herrle, PE, CPP, PMP of Applied Research Associates, Inc.; and Michael Chipley PhD, GICSP, PMP LEED AP of the PMC Group.

Advancing resilience at both the building and community level is one of the primary focuses of the work of the National Institute of Building Sciences. In the past month, the Institute has participated in the White House Conference on Resilient Building Codes and testified to Congress about the benefits of using incentives to reduce the cost of disaster response. Learn more about the National Institute of Building Sciences.

The Architectural Graphic Standards has an enduring and unsurpassed reputation for high-quality illustration, text and graphic design. With the addition of a chapter on resilience, the Architectural Graphic Standards, 12th Edition is now the go-to reference on making building design and construction more resilient. Find out more about the Architectural Graphic Standards, 12th Edition.