Resilience and Risk Reduction

On Saturday, Chris Poland, a structural engineer and the chairman and senior principal of Degenkolb Engineers, appeared on CCTV Americas to discuss engineering solutions that have helped make buildings more resilient during earthquakes. According to Poland, "earthquake resistance" in structural engineering refers to how a building is constructed to perform after an earthquake hits.

Are green building and resilience synonymous?  No but they are related.  Bill Lascher’s article in the Pacific Standard got it right.  Why build or rebuild with green building technology and materials without building or rebuilding to reflect the risks and vulnerabilities of the area in which the structure is located.  As the article indicates, Degenkolb, the nation’s oldest and largest earthquake engineering firm, understands the connection between green building and resilience and is doing something about it.  Through its corporate social responsibility-driven Envisa software too

I had an interesting conversation this week with Chris Poland, chairman and senior principal at Degenkolb.  Degenkolb is an engineering firm that provides a wide spectrum of structural engineering services to architects, Fortune 500 companies, healthcare institutions, universities, and government entities. Importantly, Degenkolb has a specialty in earthquake design and retrofitting. 

On March 21, 2012, the Disasters Roundtable of the National Academies hosted a workshop to facilitate the exchange of ideas among scientists, practitioners, and policymakers to identify issues related to the understanding and mitigation of natural, public health, technological, and other disasters.

I recently attended an event in Tulsa, OK called A Day without Business.  This was the intriguing title of an event that asked business owners to consider what they would do if their businesses were interrupted for a day (or longer) due to a disaster.  Expert speakers from the areas of insurance, IT, public health and disaster recovery presented tips and ideas.