Building Resilience Coalition

We Are At The Heart Of Building Resilience

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The next decade will be a race in which governments set the target and private tech hustlers build the ladders to reach it. In the process, sustainability will be redefined, with greater emphasis on resilience and durability, two areas where concrete excels.
June 1, 2026

Is Concrete Emerging as a New Standard for Sustainability?

The
May 25, 2026

The Changing Face of Concrete – What Does the Future Hold for the Construction Sector

The
May 19, 2026

The Concrete Manifesto – A Plan for a Better Tomorrow

In our evolving future, concrete isn't a barrier between us and nature; it is a semi-permeable membrane. It protects the vulnerable from climate extremes, lowers the cost of entry for stable housing, and serves as a substrate for a greener, more breathable urban world.
May 11, 2026

Concrete has been the Foundation of our Civilization. How did it shape our past, and how will it protect our future?

By combining low-carbon mix designs (to reduce the upfront debt) with strategic demolition practices (to maximize end-of-life uptake), the built environment can transform from a carbon source into a more balanced participant in the global ecosystem. The future of the multi-story building lies in viewing concrete not just as a structural skeleton, but as a living material with a complex, decades-long relationship with the atmosphere.
May 4, 2026

The Hidden Sink: How Concrete Breathes and the Quest for Net-Zero Buildings

By integrating parametric triggers into public policy, governments can move beyond mere survival and toward a state of true resilience—where the financial impact of a disaster is managed with the same precision as the physical response. The future of disaster management is not in waiting for the dust to settle, but in the rapid, data- driven deployment of resources that parametric planning makes possible.
April 24, 2026

The Parametric Revolution – Redefining Disaster Resilience and Public Policy through Event-Based Financing

By embracing the proactive elements of resilient design, we are not just preparing for an uncertain future; we are actively constructing a better, more equitable, and more sustainable present. We are moving from a mindset of survival to a philosophy of thriving, ensuring that our cities are not just built to last, but built to flourish.
April 13, 2026

Redefining Resiliency as a Multidimensional Movement for Urban Futures

The transition to a resilient society requires us to treat disaster risk as a fundamental part of our economic and architectural DNA. By integrating risk identification into every new project and prioritizing the
March 30, 2026

The New Daily Reality: Navigating the Surge of Billion-Dollar Disasters

The North American construction sector is at a crossroads, battling an acute shortage of skilled labour, soaring material costs, and an urgent mandate for sustainable development. In this challenging landscape, 3D concrete printing (3DCP) has emerged not merely as a technological novelty but as a potential catalyst for a structural paradigm shift.
March 23, 2026

Cracking the Code: The Complex Promise of 3D-Printed Construction

When we think of the
March 11, 2026

The Silent Sentinels: How North America’s Concrete Pipe Industry is Building a Greener Future

While designing for resilience requires initial investments, the long-term payoffs often far outweigh these costs. Ensuring that resilience benefits are distributed fairly across all communities, including marginalized groups, is critical. Resilience strategies should be scalable and adaptable to evolving climate risks.
March 10, 2026

What are the Real Benefits of Designing for Resilience

Many resilient standards overlap with accessibility (Universal Design), ensuring that those with mobility challenges can safely navigate and exit the building during emergencies.
March 3, 2026

Health Benefits of Resilient Buildings

The transition to a resilient future isn’t just a technical challenge; it’s a leadership challenge. It requires the courage to spend slightly more today to save lives and trillions of dollars tomorrow. Passive survivability, modernized codes, and proactive insurance models are not just “nice to have”—they are the blueprints for a world that can withstand the tests of the 21st century.
February 23, 2026

Designing the Future Part Five A Blueprint for Tommorrow

In summary, the insurance industry has moved from being a reactive
February 17, 2026

Designing the Future – Part Four: Insuring Tomorrow

Part One of the Designing the Future Series outlined the enormous potential of Passive Survivability. Part Two explored the complex web of real-world constraints that limit the transition to a more resilient future.
February 10, 2026

Designing the Future – Part Three – Building Codes: The Good, The Bad, andTthe Ugly

Real-world impediments can limit or forestall the transition to a more resilient future, such as envisaged or enabled through architectural designs. Overcoming the knowledge gap is a key priority in addressing resistance to change, but some institutional barriers require more deliberate, wide-ranging strategies.
February 2, 2026

Designing the Future – Part Two – Understanding the Barriers

It has often been stated that architects are thetrue designers of our future, that their designs and visions will shape the world our children will inherit. If that is true, it's a fair question to ask what our cities and towns will look like in a future that is increasingly prone to extreme weather events and other natural disasters.
January 26, 2026

Desugning the Future – Part One – Envisaging the Future

The future of the built environment lies in Regenerative Design—where buildings don't just
January 14, 2026

Resiliency and Sustainability-Two Sides of the Same Coin

In essence, the shift to resilience in the Pacific Northwest will transform construction from a system designed primarily for normal operating conditions into one that is designed for disruption, ensuring the built environment can withstand, recover from, and adapt to the region's unique and escalating climate and geological hazards.
January 4, 2026

Achieving Resiliency in Design and Construction in the Pacific Northwest

As climate change intensifies and the population grows, the imperative for resilient design will only increase. By recognizing the shared nature of both the investments and the returns, stakeholders can work together to build a safer, more sustainable future. This requires not just technical expertise but also policy innovation, financial creativity, and community engagement.
December 12, 2025

The Value and Incentives of Resilient Design and Construction

Public Private Partnerships are indispensable in the Pacific Northwest because disasters here cross borders, overwhelm single institutions, and demand coordinated resilience strategies. By leveraging government authority, private innovation, and community engagement, PPPs help the region prepare for, withstand, and recover from increasingly severe natural hazards. Find out what options are available to you.
November 24, 2025

Public-Private Partnerships: The Financial Engine for Resilient Infrastructure

The imperative to build resilient infrastructure and buildings is clear, but the primary barrier remains upfront financing. Resilient features—from reinforced foundations to redundant power systems—often cost more initially. To bridge this gap, the construction industry and its partners must leverage a suite of innovative financing mechanisms that monetize the long-term benefits of risk reduction and business continuity. Here are some suggested options.
November 17, 2025

Financing Resilience: Mechanisms to Accelerate Resilient Design and Construction

The global landscape is fundamentally shifting. Faced with the escalating threats of our changing natural environment, increasingly severe and frequent extreme weather events, and complex societal vulnerabilities, the construction industry can no longer afford to build to yesterday's minimum standards.
November 7, 2025

Why the Construction Sector Must Prioritize Building for Resilience

In essence, a resilient business is a future-proofed business. It transforms potential crises into manageable events, ensuring not just survival, but sustained growth and relevance in an increasingly complex and untrustworthyglobal market. Resilience is not a cost center; it's a strategic investment in endurance and long-term value creation.
October 15, 2025

A CEO’s Guide to Resiliency

The construction professional of the future will be less focused on sheer output speed and more on informed, quality-driven execution that prioritizes long-term asset performance and the ability of the built environment to keep communities safe and functional in the face of uncertainty. The goal is to build not just stronger structures, but a stronger society.
September 28, 2025

How the Construction Sector is Adapting to the Resiliency Imperative

Wildfire prevention is critically important in the Pacific Northwest for a combination of economic, environmental, and social reasons. The region's unique , geography, and ecology make it particularly vulnerable to wildfires, and the consequences of these fires are becoming more severe due to our changing natural environment,
September 22, 2025

Wildfire Prevention in the Pacific Northwest

Building a resilient futurUltimately, building a resilient future is a continuous journey that requires a new paradigm of leadership. It is a leadership that is visionary in its foresight, inclusive in its approach, innovative in its solutions, and deeply ethical in its application. It is the kind of leadership that understands that a community's greatest strength lies in its ability to prepare together, respond together, and rebuild together.
September 14, 2025

Leadership- the Key to a Resilient Future

State and local governments can greatly improve disaster preparedness and risk reduction through low-cost and effective initiatives that prepare and mobilize community assets and resources vital in times of emergency.
September 9, 2025

Low-Cost Options to Assess and Reduce Community Disaster Vulnerability

As proven by these examples. Designing and building for resiliency is not a cost but a strategic financial investment that yields significant returns. The goal is to get the message to legislators and developers, as well as to the general public. It is vitally important if we are to be better prepared to deal with the growing frequency and severity of climate-related disasters.
August 25, 2025

The Costs of Resiliency

The pathway to a resilient future is a continuous journey of learning, adaptation, and collaboration. It is not about a single solution but about a holistic approach that connects policy, technology, and community action.
August 11, 2025

The Pathway to Resilience: A Thousand Mile Journey of Action

The choice of materials is extremely important in promoting resilience in the design and construction of buildings and community infrastructure, especially with the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events.
August 6, 2025

Material Choices in Building Resiliency

The construction industry globally is undergoing dramatic changes, driven by several interconnected economic, social, and environmental factors. One of the more profound yet less obvious evolutions is taking place in the suppliers of cement and concrete products, which are the foundations of the construction sector as a whole.
July 28, 2025

The Quiet Revolution Underway in the Construction Industry

The MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub hosted the Resilience Executive Roundtable on April 22, bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders, including industry leaders, policymakers, insurers, code officials, designers, first responders, researchers, and community advocates.
July 25, 2025

Summary Report: Resilience Executive Roundtable@MIT

There is no failsafe remedy for predicting and mitigating the impacts of natural or other disasters. But preparations involving the three pillars of resiliency can help us ro avoid the often heartbreaking consequences of such events.
July 19, 2025

The Three Pillars of Resiliency

Breathing new life into buildings extends to resilience, and adaptive reuse is emerging as a practical environmental defense strategy.
July 8, 2025

Adaptive Reuse – The Key to Future-Proofing Our Cities

Resiliency has become a primary consideration in the design and construction of homes, buildings, and critical infrastructure, primarily due to the increasing frequency and severity of climate-related disasters. Here are strategies on how cities can build resilient homes and communities that are better equipped to face the challenges of the future.
June 22, 2025

Understanding Resilient Cities and Homes

The most effective strategies for designing and constructing buildings and infrastructure to mitigate the risks of extreme heat involve a combination of passive design principles, careful material selection, resilient infrastructure design, strategic urban planning, and the integration of advanced technologies.
June 16, 2025

Construction Strategies for Extreme Heat

In summary, retrofitting is a vital process that can enhance the resilience of buildings against natural disasters.
June 9, 2025

Retrofitting the Future

Designing and building resiliency is becoming increasingly important due to the growing frequency and severity of natural disasters.
June 1, 2025

Saving Through Resiliency in Design and Construction

Local authorities must prioritize resilience-building efforts within their jurisdictions, not only as a matter of compliance but also as an ethical obligation towards safeguarding lives within their communities.
May 25, 2025

Local Government Liability for Resiliency and Disaster Response

In an era where climate change and natural disasters are becoming increasingly frequent and severe, building resiliency is not just a choice but a necessity. 
May 15, 2025

Designing for Resilience – A Guide for Sustainable Construction

These factors collectively position modular construction as a key player in shaping the future landscape of building design and construction.
May 12, 2025

Future of Modular Construction Using Concrete and Masonry

Buildings and Infrastructure
May 4, 2025

The Future of Cement as a Sustainable and Resilient Building Product

Resiliency is becoming increasingly important in building design and construction due to the rising frequency of natural disasters, significant economic implications associated with disaster recovery costs, the imperative to protect lives and property, sustainability considerations, social equity needs, and evolving regulatory trends.
April 29, 2025

The Growing Importance of Resiliency in the Design and Construction of Buildings

Building with Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs) is increasingly recognized as a critical component of modern construction practices, particularly in the realms of resiliency and sustainability.
April 25, 2025

Building for Resiliency with Insulated Concrete Forms

In the Pacific Northwest, the increasing frequency and severity of climate-related disasters, such as wildfires, floods, and storms, pose significant challenges to insurability. Here are some effective risk reduction strategies that can help mitigate these risks.
April 13, 2025

Building Resiliency in the Pacific Northwest

The growing frequency and severity of climate-related disasters present a significant challenge for the insurance industry. As insurers adapt to this new reality, they must balance the need to remain financially viable with the responsibility to provide affordable coverage.
March 24, 2025

Insurance Pricing: Navigating a New Era of Risk

We see far too often structures built to current code that lack planning and design consideration to sustain the probable impacts of progressive climate change or episodic natural disasters. It is time for more robust building codes, especially in areas where we can predict the probable impact of these progressive events.
March 20, 2025

Designing for Resilience … It’s A Must

Proactive measures to enhance resilience and preparedness are critical to mitigating insurability risks. This will require a multifaceted approach integrating mitigation, adaptation, and stakeholder collaboration. There are no simple answers to these challenges, but there are strategies that can significantly reduce damages from extreme weather events and speed up disaster recovery.
March 5, 2025

Reducing Disaster Risks and Protecting Insurability in the Pacific Northwest

More comprehensive disaster prevention perspectives are needed to enable communities better to withstand the increased frequency and severity of climate-related disasters. Strengthening our up-to-date building codes could play a decisive role in this regard.
February 23, 2025

How to Achieve More Resilient Building Codes

The Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER) has for decades recognized the critical importance of robust cross-border security, seamless trade and economic cooperation between the U.S. and Canada. .
February 7, 2025

Tariffs Detrimental to U.S. – Canada Relationship

As climate related disasters worsen – a look at how insurance companies set rates and coverage
January 23, 2025

Americans face an insurability crisis as climate change worsens

What is a “resilient home? Resilient homes are built to withstand extremes, such as heavy rainstorms, wildfires and severe wind. They are better than those “built to code.
January 19, 2025

As climate changes, the way we build homes must also change 

The damage is seen across many industries, including in the construction sector. That’s why climate data is vital to consider during the planning process..
January 19, 2025

Global temperatures passed critical 1.5°C milestone for the first time in 2024 – new portrayal

Flooding in Montréal, and other Canadian cities, is becoming a more frequent occurrence.
September 24, 2024

New stormwater infrastructure is needed for Canadian cities

The Building Resilience Coalition, a major sponsor of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region, has achieved major goals in strengthening efforts to raise the level of resiliency in the built environment through a greater emphasis on Disaster Risk Reduction.
August 13, 2024

Building Resilience Coalition Achieves Major Gains in Promoting Designing For Resilience

Public green spaces and smart building materials can help cool cities in severe heatwaves.
June 28, 2024

What can cities and towns do to lower extreme temperatures?

The fact that our weather patterns are changing is not headline news. The rising frequency and severity of extreme weather events are of growing concern.
May 23, 2024

Designing for Resiliency – The New Face of Sustainability

Canadians are facing larger disasters on a more frequent basis. There is no doubt that some of these recent and future events are the result of an increasingly unstable climate.
February 8, 2024

Why Canada needs to dramatically update how it prepares for and manages emergencies

Engineers, architects and builders can design and construct affordable new buildings that can resist tornadoes, floods and wildfires without making the buildings into bunkers. We could also design earthquake-resilient buildings, but do not.
December 30, 2023

The cheaper we build our buildings, the more they cost after an earthquake, wildfire or tornado

The year 2023 was marked by extraordinary heat, wildfires and weather disasters. In the U.S., an unprecedented heat wave gripped much of Texas and the Southwest with highs well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 Celsius) for the entire month of July. Why is this happening?
December 19, 2023

2023’s extreme storms, heat and wildfires broke records – how global warming fuels climate disasters

As world leaders debate climate action at COP28, a new Report provides an update on the global activity and progress of the world's cement and concrete industry in meeting its Net Zero targets.
December 4, 2023

A new report highlights the decarbonization progress of the global cement industry.

The PhD student is honing algorithms for designing large structures with less material — helping to shrink the construction industry’s huge carbon footprint.
November 9, 2023

Jackson Jewett wants to design buildings that use less concrete

While El Niño is a contributor to 2023’s extreme heat, that warm event has only just begun. The steroids fueling extreme weather are the heat-trapping gases from burning coal, oil and gas for energy around the world.
October 18, 2023

Summer 2023 was the hottest on record but don’t call it ‘the new normal’

C-Crete, founded by Rouzbeh Savary PhD ’11, has created a cement alternative that could significantly reduce the industry’s carbon dioxide emissions.
October 14, 2023

Cleaning up one of the world’s most commonly used substances

Some places are more prone to hazards such as earthquakes, flooding and hurricanes, but there’s nowhere where the risk is zero. That is why designing for resilience is critica.,
September 21, 2023

Earthquakes and other natural hazards are a risk everywhere

US Climate Assessment
August 18, 2023

From Our Archives – The World has Changed. Now What?

As a society, we are just beginning to design our infrastructure for what major environmental changes we may experience in the future.
August 17, 2023

Designing for Resilience

Over the last year, Canada has made important progress toward making it easier for people to determine if they’re at risk from natural hazard disasters. But many people across the country still lack awareness about the risks they face and the steps they can take to prepare for them.
August 12, 2023

Canadians are unprepared for natural hazards. Here’s what we can do about it

Public green spaces and smart building materials can help cool cities in severe heatwaves.
August 9, 2023

What can cities and towns do to lower extreme temperatures?

Made of cement, carbon black, and water, the device could provide cheap and scalable energy storage for renewable energy sources.
August 7, 2023

MIT engineers create an energy-storing supercapacitor from ancient materials

Designing the built environment to withstand the impacts of climate change and natural disasters is critical to our future survival, and We may not get a second chance to get it right!
August 2, 2023

Designing for Resiliency – The Path to a More Sustainable Future

Designing infrastructure for resilience is essential in creating a more climate-friendly and sustainable built environment.
July 17, 2023

The Building Resilience Coa;iotion is in Boise, Idaho

The world’s leading cement and concrete companies are working to drive down the CO2 footprint of their operations and products to achieve carbon-neutral concrete by 2050. 
June 27, 2023

Carbon Neutral Concrete by 2050

“Cement and concrete are vital for the modern world, and there is no time to lose in reaching net zero.”
June 14, 2023

Concrete is fundamental to building a better world

In recent years, Canadians have seen extreme weather events, like floods and wildland fires, destroy homes, businesses, and critical infrastructure.
May 30, 2023

Canada releases first national-level disaster risk assessment

Carbonation is a natural process of carbon uptake in concrete estimated to offset up to 43% of calcination emissions during cement production.
April 3, 2023

Whole Life Cycle Carbon Uptake Tool

By
April 1, 2023

Leveraging carbon uptake to lower concrete’s carbon footprint

Analyses show stakeholders of all levels must get involved in decarbonizing pavements to reach climate goals.
March 9, 2023

Carbon-neutral pavements are possible by 2050, but rapid policy and industry action are needed

Insurance costs for mass timber buildings are higher than for other building types. Why?
March 6, 2023

INSURING MASS TIMBER BUILDINGS

Hurricane-related loss models may undervalue stronger construction by over 80 percent.
February 2, 2023

Hurricane-resistant construction may be undervalued by billions of dollars annually

Canada’s cement industry has been steadfast in its commitment to tackle climate change and reach net-zero by 2050. 
November 9, 2022

Canada Releases First Step Towards Net-Zero Concrete

Having in place measures to minimize damages from natural disasters is the essence of resiliency planning.
August 15, 2022

Futureproofing our Infrastructure

Concrete - the foundation of civilization is leading us to a sustainable future
July 6, 2022

Concrete Innovations Environmental Impacts of Building Materials

There is no silver bullet when getting to carbon-neutral concrete.
July 3, 2022

Decarbonizing Concrete – The Policy Levers

Pathway to Resilience and Carbon Neutrality – Webinar One Now Available online
June 22, 2022

Building The Future – What, how and what from

Cement and concrete are the foundations upon which our modern society and our economic wellbeing are based. The question is not whether we can achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 but how it will be done. 
May 17, 2022

Carbon-Neutrality by 2050 – Can it be done?

The climate-related benefits of high-rise buildings constructed from wood often ignore serious risk factors associated with such structures.
May 16, 2022

Building with Wood – the often-untold story

Innovative products such as portland-limestone cement can reduce the carbon footprint of concrete while maintaining high performance.
March 2, 2022

NRMCA Members Decrease Carbon Footprint by 21% in Seven Years

To my friends. colleagues, and associates, I wish to share with you a few thoughts as this year draws to a close.
December 22, 2021

A personal message from William Larson. Chair of the Pacific Northwest Building Resilience Coalition

When considering low-emission materials, we must consider concrete, the most consumed substance on the planet, behind water.
December 14, 2021

Do Low-Carbon Concrete Options Actually Work

Moisture-associated weather systems can reach anywhere between southeast Alaska and Northern California.
November 18, 2021

How an ‘atmospheric river’ drenched British Columbia and led to floods and mudslides

The ready mixed concrete industry commits to be carbon-free by 2050 along with worldwide effort launched by the global cement and concrete association and others.
October 20, 2021

A Carbon-Free Future for Concrete

The future will determine what we build, where we build, how we build, and what we build with.
September 25, 2021

Building Back Better

MIT
September 17, 2021

Concrete’s role in reducing building and pavement emissions

Together, we are stronger, more resilient, and better prepared for tomorrow.
September 11, 2021

The essence of Resiliency – Respond, Recover, and Renew.

Remarks by William Larson, Chairman of the Pacific Northwest Building Resilience Coalition at the PNWER 30th Summit
August 18, 2021

Build Back Better – Infrastructure for Recovery

Concrete, the most used Building Product in the world, is where to start to lower the carbon footprint of the built environment.
June 23, 2021

Net Zero Emissions by 2050 for Cement and Concrete is Possible and is Happening

World Environment Day means more than preserving or protecting the natural environment. The Built Environment also needs help.
June 5, 2021

It’s World Environment Day, But Which Environment?

Unanimous 5-0 vote in Public Safety Committee moves “Building a Safer Los Angeles” the fire life safety motion forward
March 14, 2021

Los Angeles City Council Moves to Ensure Safer Buildings

Cement consumption in the U.S. Pacific region is expected to grow says PCA Market Intelligence Group
February 23, 2021

Cement consumption expected to decline in the West

Carbon uptake by concrete pavements offset cement production emissions
January 28, 2021

Unravelling carbon uptake in concrete pavements

As the year 2020 draws to a close, we have much to reflect on.
December 21, 2020

A Message to the Building Resilience Coalition Community

PCA to develop a roadmap to facilitate its member companies achieving carbon neutrality
December 1, 2020

A Carbon Neutrality Roadmap for the Cement and Concrete Industry

Global Cement and Concrete Association outlines '2050 climate ambition' to tackle global challenge
September 1, 2020

Concrete – the World’s Most Widely Used Material – Targets Carbon Neutral Future

Buildings and Infrastructure
July 15, 2020

Reducing the carbon footprint of the built environment

Spokane buildings achieve U.S. Resiliency Council Silver Ratings
July 10, 2020

Northwest Masonry Buildings Receive USRC Silver Rating

This Earth Day is unlike any other. We are amid a pandemic that has shaken the foundations of our society, our economy, and our survival.
April 21, 2020

Earth Day 2020 – Reimagining and Rebuilding the Future We Want

A new initiative shows how our world has been shaped by concrete, the most important building product in use today.
February 19, 2020

A New Look at How Concrete has Shaped Our World

Atmospheric river storms can drive costly flooding – and climate change is making them stronger
February 4, 2020

Atmospheric river storms can drive costly flooding

There are many assertions made about the environmental and climate-related benefits of mass timber construction, How real are those claims?
August 22, 2019

What’s Up with Mass Timber?

Here are some key takeaway points on the Building Resilient Coalition's sponsorship of the recent Pacific Northwest Economic Region Summit.
August 7, 2019

Reflections on the PNWER Summit

“Making a decision to invest in infrastructure is not just a decision. It is a commitment to the future.”
July 24, 2019

Building the Resilient Infrastructure Needed for the Future

Concrete in the built environment is quietly absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
January 2, 2019

Carbonation – The New Face of Concrete

Higher fire and moisture risks for wood frame buildings are cited as the primary reasons for the insurance rate gap
October 22, 2018

Insurance costs six times greater for wood frame buildings – Study

Catastrophic Devastation or Manageable Recovery - What makes the difference?
August 1, 2018

Catastrophic Devastation or Manageable Recovery – What makes the difference?

The wood versus concrete debate is a tired, cliché-riddled argument that has little scientific merit. There are bigger issues at stake
July 17, 2018

Getting the facts straight about wood versus concrete

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