Session

When the country’s built environment was designed, no one could foresee the intensity and frequency of the natural hazards to come.

Fortunately, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act have presented a historic opportunity to address these risks in the next generation of building and infrastructure investments that build climate resilience and should last generations.

Across the Federal government, agencies are making sure these climate-smart infrastructure and buildings investments consider the science on projected climate impacts and that underserved communities are represented and can access services.

The National Initiative to Advance Building Codes (NIABC), established in 2022, helps state, local, Tribal, and territorial governments adopt the latest and current building codes and standards, enabling communities to be more resilient to hurricanes, flooding, wildfires, and other extreme and intensifying weather events due to climate change.

With the support of the Mitigation Federal Leadership Group, the NIABC is coordinating a whole-of-government effort to increase resilience through adoption of model building codes in federal funding and projects, harness $225 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to support implementation of updated building energy codes, and provide incentives and support for communities to adopt current building codes and standards.

This session will provide attendees with the opportunity to hear directly from and interact with Federal officials responsible for translating climate resilience goals and policy into tangible financial assistance and research programs that invest in the next generation of buildings and infrastructure.