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Earlier this month, the International Code Council (ICC) and the Alliance for National and Community Resilience (ANCR) released a pilot document on community resilience benchmarks for buildings. It focuses on providing a mechanism to evaluate a facility’s current state of resilience and a guide for possible improvements.
The benchmarks consist of nine requirements aimed at increasing resilience, including the adoption, administration, and enforcement of building codes. In particular, it encourages local governments to adopt building codes and to provide the human, technical, and financial resources necessary to support permitting, plan review, and inspections.
“A holistic approach to identifying and incorporating resilience measures into a community’s building stock, including the adoption of the latest building codes, supports the mitigation of damage from natural disasters and increases the overall resiliency of our communities,” said Ryan Colker, ANCR executive director. “These benchmarks provide a standard for local and state governments to follow and ensuring they are well prepared for the next disaster.”
Several state and local government officials contributed to the development of the resilience benchmarks, including representatives from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), and the New York City Department of Buildings. Representatives from across the building industry, including designers, manufacturers, trade groups, and nonprofits, were also involved in the project.
