Multihazard Mitigation Council issues call for members.
Press Release Summary:
Members are being sought for newly reconstituted Multihazard Mitigation Council (MMC), which is tasked with promoting increased all-hazard (man-caused and natural) disaster resilience in homes and commercial buildings. MMC will provide forum for disaster professionals to exchange information on emerging trends in building technology and federal policy as well as address building systems and software applications that play critical roles in disaster resilience and sustainability.
Original Press Release:
Multihazard Mitigation Council Issues Call for Members
The National Institute of Building Sciences is issuing a call for members to join its newly reconstituted Multihazard Mitigation Council (MMC).
In 2005, the MMC conducted a widely cited study, Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves: An Independent Study to Assess the Future Savings from Mitigation Activities, which documented how every $1 spent on mitigation saves society an average of $4. In the five years since that study was published, though the findings are still relevant, the building community mitigation landscape itself has changed.
Today, in addition to decreasing the nation's losses from natural and man-caused disaster events, there is an increased focus on promoting community preparedness, sustainability and resilience, as well as working to achieve other national goals, such as creating high-performance buildings and improving energy efficiency.
It is in this context that the National Institute of Building Sciences Board of Directors, during its May meeting, approved the reconstitution of the Council. The new MMC will promote increased all-hazard (man-caused and natural) disaster resilience in homes and commercial buildings as part of a whole building strategy that incorporates sustainability, security and the use of geographic information systems (GIS) and other technological tools. This expansive approach will be directed to homeowners, businesses, schools, communities, public and private sector building portfolio managers and many others.
Membership in the Institute and the MMC is voluntary and open to public and private sector architects, engineers, contractors and risk assessment practitioners as well as trade and professional associations, materials interests and others from communities across the United States. The Council will provide a forum for disaster professionals to exchange information on emerging trends in building technology and federal policy, and to address building systems and software applications that play a critical role in disaster resilience and sustainability.
Neil Blais, president of Blais & Associates, Inc., will serve as MMC Chair. Ellen Gordon, Associate Director of Executive Education and Faculty for the NPS Center for Homeland Defense and Security, will serve as MMC Vice-Chair. The new MMC will hold its first annual meeting during the Institute's Annual Meeting in December in Washington, D.C., to be held in conjunction with the Ecobuild America Conference.
To learn more about becoming a member of the MMC, visit www.nibs.org/mmc.
About the National Institute of Building Sciences
The National Institute of Building Sciences, authorized by public law 93-383 in 1974, is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that brings together representatives of government, the professions, industry, labor and consumer interests to identify and resolve building process and facility performance problems. The Institute serves as an authoritative source of advice for both the private and public sectors with respect to the use of building science and technology. For more information, please visit www.nibs.org.
