Resilience Townhall: Mitigation, Community Resilience, Lifeline Infrastructure, and Investment

Join nationally-recognized subject matter experts and chairs of NIBS’ resilience councils for a discussion on cutting-edge initiatives to advance climate solutions and their adoption in the built environment.

The panel will brief the audience on the importance of mitigation, explain how adopting model buildings codes and implementing beyond-code construction methods can save lives and reduce economic impact, lead discussion on the significance of investing and improving the aging and vulnerable lifeline infrastructure, and elaborate on how we can create a resilience economy.

Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety Chief Engineer and NIBS Multi-Hazard Mitigation Council Chair, Dr. Anne Cope, will shed light into how building codes and engineering options can protect lives and reduce economic loss.

Dr. Kent Yu, Principal and Founder of SEFT Consulting Group and Chair of the Building Seismic Safety Council, will discuss the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) and the great success it has made with reducing earthquake risk throughout the United States since its authorization in 1977.

Ron Eguchi, President and CEO of ImageCat and Chair of the Lifeline Advisory Panel, will delve into the imperative of extending our focus beyond buildings to encompass the broader built environment, with a particular emphasis on integrating lifeline infrastructure into community disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.

Dr. Daniel Kaniewski, Managing Director with Marsh McLennan, former Deputy Administrator with FEMA, and Chair of the Committee on Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate (CFIRE), will discuss the importance of collaboration among public and private stakeholders and share the opportunities within the realm of federal grants programs, private sector innovative solutions, and public policy that can help close our nation’s resilience investment gap.

The session will be moderated by NIBS Chief Resilience Officer Dr. Jiqiu (JQ) Yuan.

Learning objectives:

  • Learn about the importance of mitigation and adoption of building codes
  • Share recommended Congressional priorities for advancing our nation’s community resilience and innovative ideas for functional recovery
  • Learn about lifeline infrastructure systems and their roles in supporting disaster recovery and community resilience
  • Discuss the innovative ideas and incentives that would support resilience investment

Presentation

Time:
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM
Date:
23 May 2024
Congressional

Speaker

Anne Cope
Chief Engineer, IBHS
Daniel Kaniewski
Managing Director, Public Sector, Marsh McLennan
Roberto Leon
Via Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech
Jiqiu “JQ” Yuan
Chief Resilience Officer & Head of Engineering, NIBS