First-of-their-kind resilience benchmarks for U.S. communities that can be used to evaluate the current state of resilience and guidance for areas of improvement has been released.
The benchmarks, developed by the International Code Council and the Alliance for National and Community Resilience (ANCR), consist of nine requirements aimed at increasing the resilience of communities, including the adoption, administration, and enforcement of building codes. The benchmarks encourage local governments to adopt building codes and to provide the human, technical and financial resources necessary to support permitting, plan review, and inspections.
“A holistic approach to identifying and incorporating resilience measures into a community’s building stock, including the adoption of the latest building codes, supports the mitigation of damage from natural disasters and increases the overall resiliency of our communities,” said ANCR Executive Director Ryan Colker in a news release. “These benchmarks provide a standard for local and state governments to follow ensuring they are well prepared for the next disaster.”
State and local government officials contributed to the development of the buildings benchmarks, including representatives from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development and the New York City Department of Buildings. Representatives from across the building industry, including designers, manufacturers, trade groups and nonprofits, were also involved in the development of the benchmarks.
Related Stories
| Mar 1, 2012
California bill aims to cut costs for commercial building energy retrofits
A bill in the California Assembly would allow the state to pool together property owners’ energy-retrofit loans.
| Feb 29, 2012
Carvalho appointed Shawmut Safety Director
He has been a driving force behind multiple safety-orientated initiatives at Shawmut, including Safety Week, the creation of an online safety manual, and the implementation of a new safety reporting and tracking system.
| Feb 23, 2012
Federal budget cuts put major building projects on hold
A plan to build the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Kansas is among several major building projects in jeopardy after the Obama administration’s 2013 budget was unveiled. The budget would cut all construction spending for the facility.
| Feb 23, 2012
Federal agencies fixed on leasing LEED-certified space
The federal government is especially focused on renting LEED-certified spaces.
| Feb 23, 2012
Regulators investigating construction accident at World Trade Center
The New York Port Authority and the city’s fire and building departments are investigating an accident at the World Trade Center construction site in lower Manhattan after a crane dropped steel beams that fell about 40 stories onto the truck that delivered them.
| Feb 23, 2012
New Virginia statewide building code goes into effect March 1
After March 1, all building plans in Virginia must adhere to the 2009 code that was adopted a year ago.
| Feb 23, 2012
Privatizing flood insurance could lead to new code requirements
One thing that could pave the way toward private flood insurance would be NFIP reforms, like requiring new construction in flood-prone areas to be elevated.
| Feb 22, 2012
ACI BIM manual for cast-in-place concrete in development
The improved communication, coordination, and collaboration afforded by BIM implementation have already been shown to save time and money in projects.