Infrastructure criteria around insulation , air barriers , solar heat gain , glazing and fenestration support temperature-related aspects .
While the building enclosure performance garners most of the attention around passive survivability , other code provisions are also relevant . Pipe insulation can prevent the freezing of pipes during extreme cold events and daylighting can support continued use of space when emergency lighting is insufficient or when backup power runs out .
The US Department of Energy recently found that , “ increasing the efficiency of the envelope in existing single-family buildings to meet code requirements extends habitability by as much as 50 percent during extreme cold and by up to 40 percent during extreme heat . Improving the building envelope to meet or beat current code is cost effective for new single-family and for most new apartment buildings for the locations investigated . For new buildings , benefit-cost ratio values for meeting current code envelope requirements range from four-to-seven for single-family and three-to-14 for mid-rise apartments , making a strong financial case for adoption .”
Using energy codes to provide enhanced passive survivability provides significant cobenefits . Community and individual resilience are enhanced by providing a safe and comfortable indoor environment even during extended periods of disruption or emergency . enhancing the resilience of communities . The first benchmark , covering buildings , addresses the adoption , administration and enforcement of building codes .
ANCR also produced white papers on the contributions of the International Building Code ® ( IBC ), International Wildland-Urban Interface Code ® ( IWUI ) and the International Energy Conservation Code ® ( IECC ) to resilience . Together , these form a series of publications examining how specific International Codes ( I-Codes ) support resilience . ANCR also developed Building Community Resilience Through Modern Model Building Codes to help explain how building codes contribute to resilience .
By adopting and implementing strong building codes , individuals can be better prepared to face the challenges of the future and build more sustainable and resilient communities for all . ■
For a list of the sources used in this article , please contact the editor .
Alliance for national and community resilience
Achieving resilience requires a focus on the interconnected systems that form communities . The Alliance for National & Community Resilience ( ANCR ), a member of the International Code Council family of solutions , provides communities with resources to help them build off strong building codes to advance resilience across all aspects of the community .
ANCR is developing a series of benchmarks covering key requirements aimed at
Joseph W . Sollod www . iccsafe . org
Joseph W . Sollod is the Sustainability , Resilience and Innovation Associate with the Code Council ’ s Government Relations division . The International Code Council is the leading global source of s codes and standards and building safety solutions . Code Council codes , standards and solutions are used to ensure safe , affordable and sustainable communities and buildings worldwide .
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