Building for Climate Resilience: Adaptions and Strategies

Join USGBC National Capital Region (USGBC-NCR) and the Greenbuild Host Committee on Thursday, October 22nd, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the Crough Center at Catholic University for “Building for Climate Resilience: Adaptions and Strategies,” the second of two speaker events examining the growing global focus on resilience. Part of USGBC-NCR’s lead-up to Greenbuild Voices on Resilience Campaign, these events will explore the convergence of sustainability and resilience and how our region can work collectively to make our community stronger and more adaptable. Resilience takes us a step beyond sustainability, asking the building community to “think forward” and to design and construct based on anticipated future conditions rather than past or current standards. How can we design and build our cities and homes in such a way that they will not only withstand potentially catastrophic future events, but also serve as resources to help us recover from them?

The rising threats of global warming, extreme weather, and uncertain economic conditions make it imperative that green building leaders understand our regional vulnerabilities and adopt best practices for absorbing climate impacts. “Building for Climate Resilience: Adaptions and Strategies” will feature a panel of industry leaders discussing how they face head on the challenges of creating and investing in a resilient future. The panel will explore climate resilience through real world examples, focusing on projects that have been engineered and designed to incorporate diverse, innovative solutions that improve their capacity to withstand the uncertainties of a changing environment. Discussions will include the Envision rating system, resilience theory in practice, and an engaging case study on the Brock Environmental Center, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Living Building Challenge and climate resilient building.

The panel for this event will include:

·      Fiona Cousins, Principal Arup and USGBC Board of Directors Chair-elect

·      Jennifer Rivers, Vice President of Operations, Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure

·      Dr. Amos Avidan, Senior Vice President, Bechtel Corporation

·      Chia Chang, Senior Associate Planning and Urban Design, Gensler

·      Gregory Mella, Vice President, Discipline Leader, Sustainable Design, SmithGroupJJR

Tickets for this event are $25 for USGBC-NCR members and members of USGBC-NCR Host Committee Partner Organizations, and $40 for nonmembers. Learn more and register at: http://usgbcncr.org/event/resilience-speaker-event/