Resilient Design News for You |
|
Newsletter Volume 3 No. 3
December 2020
|
|
Dear Resilience Allies,
As we reflect on this year--one that can't end soon enough!--a subtle lesson of the Disaster Cycle emerges. While disaster management may seem like a wheel or a clock, where each phase happens in sequence, in fact, all of the elements are at play, all of the time. If we don't want to be scrambling, we have to invest now.
Though USRC's Founding Members primarily hail from engineering, 2020 for us was a year of reaching out. The diverse stakeholders in the resilience movement each play different roles, but our work--and the outcomes--are interconnected. Planning, coordination, understanding the systems at work, and identifying key leverage points are critical.
|
|
|
The most important thing is to keep moving forward. USRC's rating system embodies a scientifically-grounded, information-based approach that can complement land use planning, business continuity, corporate risk management, community needs assessment and development, green building certification, real estate investing, facilities strategy, and more. We look forward to working with you in 2021 on new ways to pursue and realize the shared goal of raising community resilience.
Have a peaceful, healthy holiday season, everyone. See you in 2021!
Evan Reis, SE, PE
USRC Executive Director
|
|
|
|
Clifford L. Allenby Office Building
Sacramento, CA - USRC Platinum
The recently completed Clifford L Allenby building in Sacramento for the State of California will house human services, police, and other staff that are critical to the state's operations and response to public crises of all kinds. Jessica Westermeyer of KPFF, a Seattle structural engineer, helped design the 11-story concrete office building with post tensioning, flat plates, concrete columns, and concrete core walls. ZGF architects, Lionakis, and Rudolph & Sletten rounded out the integrated design-build team.
|
|
Westermeyer and the Allenby are featured in Episode 2 of The Resilience Advantage video series. She shares how resilience factored into the project, which is also LEED Platinum. "The client really want this building to stay operational because of a lot of critical work that's going to need to happen immediately after a disaster... A USRC Platinum Rating gave us a tangible way to quantify all of the enhancements, which would probably have been lost to the general public." Congratulations to all team members on this exemplary project!
|
|
Over 500 People Tune in for The Resilience Advantage Episodes 1, 2, and Webinars
|
USRC is grateful and delighted at the enthusiastic response to the inaugural 11/18 and 12/9 webinars of our year-long series with Optimum Seismic. Attendees hailed from 36 different cities and counties, 26 colleges and universities in the US and abroad, as well as hundreds of firms and non- profit and public entities.
|
|
Comings and Goings on USRC's Board
Sincere Welcomes and Thank Yous
|
After four years of dedicated service, USRC Board members Sorrel Hanson of FM Global and Michael Cochran of Thorton Tomasetti have completed two terms each. We thank them mightily for their vision and service!
Joining the Board are Jeff Ellis, PE, SE, SECB of Simpson Strong-Tie and Jay Kumar, PE of Partner Science & Engineering. Both come from strong Founding Member organizations of USRC. They bring terrific new energy, connections, and skills sets as USRC enters a critical period for growing our ratings programs, membership, fundraising, and outreach.
|
Case studies of USRC-rated structures, information on how to become a certified USRC Rater, and how to inquire about rating a building rating are available at www.USRC.org.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
