Significant fiscal and intellectual investment in climate-resilient infrastructure is sorely needed for the Nation and indeed the world. To help the Nation achieve these twin goals, promoting the development of climate-resilient codes and standards is of strategic importance. To date, infrastructure codes and standards have not taken into account that our climate is rapidly changing. A formal collaboration between the Nation’s largest provider of climate information, NOAA, and the world’s largest civil engineering professional society, ASCE, is necessary and ongoing. The expressed focus of such a collaboration is on advancing the use of NOAA-produced climate science and understanding within engineering practice for the design and construction of climate-resilient infrastructure. Specifically, the development and updating of ASCE codes, standards, and manuals of practice by a series of exchanges between NOAA and ASCE and focusing on the co-development of problem definition and technology transfer mechanisms.
The ASCE-NOAA Task Force on Climate Resilience in Engineering Practice (Task Force FT) proposes to a convene a panel discussion to provide updates on the work and plans of the TF focusing on climate-risk reduction in building practices. The NOAA Climate Program Office has forged a partnership with the University of Maryland (UMD) and ASCE to expedite the development of climate-smart engineering codes and standards. This effort should increase the pace of climate adaptation and reduce maintenance costs, as well the costs of climate-related natural disasters. The panel engage TF co-chairs: Bilal M. Ayyub, Ben DeAngelo, Dan Walker, and other panelists from the TF.
1 PDH