Resilience is fast taking its place alongside energy and resource effiiciency as a key tenet of green construction.
And rightly so. Sheer survival has a huge environmental impact. The ability of a building to stand the tests of time, changing uses, and natural disasters saves resources and energy squandered in demolition and rebuilding.
Less obvious is the role of resilience in sustainable communities--how durable buildings and other infrastructure enable a community to keep on functioning in the aftermath of a disaster such as a tornado, hurricane, or flood.
The inter-dependence of sustainable communities with resilient construction will be examined during “Resilience for Sustainable Communities,” a free webinar offered by the Portland Cement Association (PCA) on April 10, 2012, 2:30-4 p.m (CDT). The session highlights the ways robust buildings provide support to as well as enhance the sustainability of communities.
Designing for resilience is not just about the survival of essential facilities such as hospitals and fire stations. These types of facilities are already built to higher standards than offices and homes. The need for resilient building extends throughout the community. Essential facilities such as hospitals can only function with people and infrastructure intact, which means housing, transportation infrastructure, access to food and water, and more.
At the core of this issue is our decades-long trend toward disposable construction. The standard for construction in the United States has become building for the least cost. That means the cheapest building that can legally be built within a building code jurisdiction. This trend jeoparrdizes community stability and sustainability, especially in the wake of disasters.
Resilience doesn't mean that everything has to be built like a fortress. The PCA webinar will present appropriate building code modifications and strategies to build strong, environmentally friendly homes and buildings that are endorsed by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety.
Register for this free webinar at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/374308938.