Design and Construction Leaders Commit to Resilience

Tuesday, for the first time, leaders of America’s design and construction industry, along with building owners and operators, have agreed to promote resilience in contemporary planning, building materials, design, construction and operational techniques to help make the nation’s aging infrastructure more safe and secure.

CEOs of almost 24 leading design and construction industry associations, with more than 700,000 members generating almost $1 trillion in GDP, used the occasion of “Building Safety Month” to issue a joint statement on resilience. The statement was unveiled at a press conference at the National Building Museum, where a new major exhibition titled Designing for Disaster presents design and building solutions for disaster mitigation.

“We recognize that natural and manmade hazards pose an increasing threat to the safety of the public and the vitality of our nation,” reads the statement, in part. “We further recognize that contemporary planning, building materials, design, construction and operational techniques can make our communities more resilient to these threats.”

The CEOs committed their design and construction sector organizations to significantly improve the resilience of the nation’s entire built environment through research into new materials, construction procedures, and other methods to improve the standard of practice. Among other things, they also committed the industry to educating itself through continuous learning; to advocating for effective land use policies; to responding to disasters alongside first responders; and to planning for future events, with a strategy for fast recovery.

“By reaching out across the design and construction industry spectrum, the alliance could play a significant role in addressing major national imperatives as we design, plan, and build the future,” says ASLA Executive Vice President and CEO Nancy C. Somerville, Hon. ASLA, Hon. AIA. “Resilience is at the heart of what landscape architects do. I applaud our partners and look forward to working with them for the common good.”

In addition to the American Society of Landscape Architects, here is a list of organizations signing onto the joint statement on resilience:

American Council of Engineering Companies
American Institute of Architects
American Planning Association
American Society of Civil Engineers
American Society of Interior Designers
American Society of Landscape Architects
American Society of Plumbing Engineers
ASHRAE
Associated Builders and Contractors
Associated General Contractors of America
Building Owners and Managers Association
International Code Council
International Interior Design Association
Lean Construction Institute
National Association of Home Builders
National Institute of Building Sciences International Facility Management Association
National Society of Professional Engineers
Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors
Urban Land Institute
U.S. Green Building Council