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Component Manufacturing dverti$ dverti $ er
Don’t Forget! You Saw it in the
May 2021 #13262 Page #78
Adverti$$er
Preparing for the Future – Adapting Building Codes to Changing Weather Risks Judy Zakreski Vice President of Global Services International Code Council
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s climate patterns continue to shift, an increasing number of communities around the globe are not only experiencing extreme weather events with increased frequency, duration, and intensity, but also some are experiencing these hazards for the first time in their histories. As a first line of defense, building codes and standards are fundamental in assuring that buildings support the health, safety, and welfare of communities, including protecting life during hazardous events. While many at-risk communities have adopted building codes to provide protection from the majority of anticipated hazards, most codes utilize historical data to assess the risk of weatherrelated hazards to buildings that may not account for new climate patterns. Therefore, as hazards change, building codes and standards developers need to be considering how to incorporate the latest research and data from building and climate-based science in order to address the evolving risks across the lifetime of the structures and maintain the expected levels of safety and resilience.
Creating the Global Resiliency Dialogue This has led building safety professionals into unchartered territory as, traditionally, codes and standards are rooted in an environment of certainty. For its part, the International Code Council is developing a series of white papers on how the different International Codes (I-Codes) contribute to resilience. Although the data sources in these codes are still historical, there is great interest in developing potential strategies that can be used seamlessly with the current format of the I-Codes, such as an overlay document (a standard or guideline) that communities wishing to address future climate risks can adopt alongside their code, or a stand-alone standard that would address the process states and localities can use to improve resilience. However, understanding that no one nation or organization will be able to tackle this on their own, we are now seeing global action and collaboration since the threats resulting from more frequent and severe wind events, flooding, wildfires, and other hazard events are similar around the world.
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