Design decisions for buildings and communities are critical to efforts to increase local and regional resiliency. Building designers — of residential, institutional, and commercial structures — should strive to incorporate passive and active survivability concepts into new and renovated structures.
Community planners and developers need to incorporate concepts that increase the capacity to maintain transportation flow, strategies to handle water management, and infrastructure approaches that will withstand a variety of risks.
Better Buildings
The DOE’s Better Buildings Initiative finds new ways to connect partners and stakeholders with key resources and recognition opportunities.
Climate Ready DC: The District of Columbia’s Plan to Adapt to a Changing Climate
Climate Ready DC is the District of Columbia’s strategy to make the District more resilient to future climate change while helping to ensure that our city continues to grow greener, healthier, and more livable.
Designing for a Resilient America: A Stakeholder Summit on High Performance Resilient Buildings and Related Infrastructure
Given the gravity of manmade and natural hazard events of the last decade, designing buildings that not only offer resistance, but continue to function after a catastrophic event, are significant challenges to government and the building industry. The National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) has recommended better understanding of the role of design and construction in infrastructure resilience.
Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Industrial and Commercial Buildings
The Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Industrial and Commercial Buildings enables the establishment of a baseline for the resilience of buildings and campuses to natural hazards or man-made disasters, making it easier for improvements to be identified and prioritized, and tracked.
Envision Rating System for Sustainable Infrastructure
Published in 2015, the Envision system is composed of tools, covering all aspects of a product’s lifecycle, that are meant to introduce sustainability into infrastructure projects.
EPA: Flood Resilience Checklist
Is your community prepared for a possible flood? Use EPA’s Flood Resilience checklist to improve your community’s flood resilience.
FEMA Resources for Climate Resilience
In December 2021 the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) published “FEMA Resources for Climate Resilience.” This publication provides a roadmap of FEMA programs and initiatives that advance community climate resilience. Building resilience is a long-term, ongoing process and this resource offers guidance for each step along the way – including funding opportunities, applicable FEMA programs, tools, and resources.
Future Sea Level and Recurrent Flooding Risk for Coastal Virginia
The report presents analysis of the best available existing data on coastal land elevation, sea level rise projections, vertical land motion (subsidence), and building and transportation assets.
Green Building and Climate Resilience: Understanding Impacts and Preparing for Changing Conditions
This report from the University of Michigan and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) includes regional impact information and building adaptation strategy. For the Southeast U.S. these include: sea-level rise; increased heat-related stresses for people, plants and animals; decreased water availability; and increased damage from higher intensity hurricanes and storm surges.
Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise Preparedness and Resilience Intergovernmental Pilot Project
After two years, the Hampton Roads Sea level Rise and Resilience Intergovernmental Planning Pilot Project (Intergovernmental Pilot Project or IPP), convened at Old Dominion University, has come to a successful close. The key deliverables include a whole of government mitigation and adaptation planning process and an integrated regional recommendation, both which can serve as a template for other regions.
Better Buildings
The DOE’s Better Buildings Initiative finds new ways to connect partners and stakeholders with key resources and recognition opportunities.
Climate Ready DC: The District of Columbia’s Plan to Adapt to a Changing Climate
Climate Ready DC is the District of Columbia’s strategy to make the District more resilient to future climate change while helping to ensure that our city continues to grow greener, healthier, and more livable.
Designing for a Resilient America: A Stakeholder Summit on High Performance Resilient Buildings and Related Infrastructure
Given the gravity of manmade and natural hazard events of the last decade, designing buildings that not only offer resistance, but continue to function after a catastrophic event, are significant challenges to government and the building industry. The National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) has recommended better understanding of the role of design and construction in infrastructure resilience.
Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Industrial and Commercial Buildings
The Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Industrial and Commercial Buildings enables the establishment of a baseline for the resilience of buildings and campuses to natural hazards or man-made disasters, making it easier for improvements to be identified and prioritized, and tracked.
Envision Rating System for Sustainable Infrastructure
Published in 2015, the Envision system is composed of tools, covering all aspects of a product’s lifecycle, that are meant to introduce sustainability into infrastructure projects.
EPA: Flood Resilience Checklist
Is your community prepared for a possible flood? Use EPA’s Flood Resilience checklist to improve your community’s flood resilience.
FEMA Resources for Climate Resilience
In December 2021 the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) published “FEMA Resources for Climate Resilience.” This publication provides a roadmap of FEMA programs and initiatives that advance community climate resilience. Building resilience is a long-term, ongoing process and this resource offers guidance for each step along the way – including funding opportunities, applicable FEMA programs, tools, and resources.
Future Sea Level and Recurrent Flooding Risk for Coastal Virginia
The report presents analysis of the best available existing data on coastal land elevation, sea level rise projections, vertical land motion (subsidence), and building and transportation assets.
Green Building and Climate Resilience: Understanding Impacts and Preparing for Changing Conditions
This report from the University of Michigan and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) includes regional impact information and building adaptation strategy. For the Southeast U.S. these include: sea-level rise; increased heat-related stresses for people, plants and animals; decreased water availability; and increased damage from higher intensity hurricanes and storm surges.
Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise Preparedness and Resilience Intergovernmental Pilot Project
After two years, the Hampton Roads Sea level Rise and Resilience Intergovernmental Planning Pilot Project (Intergovernmental Pilot Project or IPP), convened at Old Dominion University, has come to a successful close. The key deliverables include a whole of government mitigation and adaptation planning process and an integrated regional recommendation, both which can serve as a template for other regions.
