The president of Thornton Tomasetti, Raymond P. Daddazio, EngScD, PE, will serve as the Opening Keynote Speaker during Building Innovation 2018: The National Institute of Building Sciences Sixth Annual Conference and Expo, to be held Tuesday, January 9, 8:00 am – 10:00 am ET, in Washington, D.C.

The Building Innovation 2018 theme is Sustain. Strengthen. Secure. In his presentation, Mr. Daddazio will build on that theme, focusing on resilience and how infrastructure plays a major role in securing our communities for the future. He will provide his insights; highlight case studies; share best practices, lessons learned and remaining challenges; as well as offer his thoughts on long-term planning, whole building design, sustainability and the interchange between buildings and supporting infrastructure from the engineering point of view.

New York City’s diverse building stock of over one million buildings is highly vulnerable to the hazards of a changing climate, including tidal and storm flooding in coastal neighborhoods, but also extreme heat, heavy precipitation and groundwater table rise throughout the city. While New York City’s Building Code facilitates physical resilience in new construction, the majority of the city’s buildings are approaching 100 years old. In his remarks, Wilson will share the context of New York City’s climate vulnerabilities, the work he and his colleagues in the Office of Resiliency are doing to address them and challenges in preparing buildings for coming climate hazards.

Today, the National Institute of Building Sciences issued the next report in its multi-year study on the benefits of investing in hazard mitigation. The Institute unveiled the Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves: 2018 Interim Report during the Opening Keynote Breakfast held at Building Innovation 2019: The National Institute of Building Sciences Seventh Annual Conference & Expo in Washington, D.C.

The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) earned a 2019 Power of A Silver Award for its Mitigation Saves Study, a multi-year study on natural hazard mitigation

The American Society of Association Executives honored the study, which was launched by NIBS to highlight the significant savings that result from implementing mitigation strategies. The goal of the study is to increase safety, prevent property loss, and reduce disruption of day-to-day life within communities.

The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) earned a 2019 Power of A Silver Award for its National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program (NEHRP) Seismic Provisions. These guidelines aim to reduce seismic risk and make the building process more efficient, including design and construction.

The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) honored the program launched by NIBS’ Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC), which leads the development of nationally applicable seismic regulations for buildings that integrate into the model building code.

Natural disasters like wildfires and floods are only increasing in frequency and volume, costing the U.S. an average of $100 billion annually. This is part of the reason building resilience will be prominently featured during Building Innovation 2020: Virtual Edition.

The annual meeting of the National Institute of Building Sciences takes place August 18-19.

The National Institute of Building Sciences applauds the introduction of the Flood Resiliency and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2020 in the U.S. House of Representatives on Sept. 30. The bipartisan legislation was introduced by Representatives David Price (D-NC) and Lee Zeldin (R-NY) to better safeguard communities and infrastructure from future flooding events and storms.

NIBS joined more than 30 stakeholder groups to sign a letter that calls for a pragmatic approach to enhance the safety of federal investments and communities when building and rebuilding in flood-prone areas.