The United States enjoys one of the highest standards of living in the world. One contributing component of this standard of living is the supporting array of buildings and infrastructure. According to the Environmental Protection Agency this building stock constitutes approximately 40 percent of the total yearly energy expenditure of the nation, and accounts for 12 percent of total water consumption, 68 percent of total electricity consumption and 38% of total carbon dioxide emissions into our atmosphere.

In December 1968, the United States Federal Government’s National Commission on Urban Problems sounded an alarm. The Commission had been formed in January, 1967, as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. It was headed by Illinois Senator Paul Douglas, and soon came to be known as “The Douglas Commission.” Over the course of two years leading up to that date, the Commission had penetrated the labyrinth of zoning, housing and building codes, as well as taxation and development standards. It also documented the need to increase the supply of low-cost, decent housing.

On September 25, 2008, the Board of Directors of the National Institute of Building Sciences appointed a Task Group to review the current systems in use across the United States for rating and certifying building performance and accrediting individual expertise. The Task Group was charged by the Board to seek input on these issues from a broad range of participants in the building sector as well as the developers and managers of these systems.

Given the gravity of manmade and natural hazard events of the last decade, designing buildings that not only offer resistance, but continue to function after a catastrophic event are significant challenges to government and the building industry. The National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) has recommended better understanding of the role of design and construction in infrastructure resilience.

Buildings are complex and becoming more so as owners and policymakers demand particular levels of performance. The focus is no longer on single building characteristics but providing high performance through the optimization of numerous attributes including safety and security, accessibility, historic preservation, functionality, productivity, sustainability, cost effectiveness, aesthetics, and resiliency.

Resiliency has become a growing concern in the national psyche. President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force’s Rebuilding Strategy and other high-profile documents call for the implementation of measures to improve resiliency. However, assigning who is responsible for implementing such resilience strategies is not clear-cut. Multiple agencies at multiple levels of government, along with the private sector and individual citizens, bear responsibility. Recognizing and aligning the diverse parties involved is a necessary step to achieving resilience.