Overview Agenda Location Program Speakers Sponsors

Please note: participation in this workshop is by invitation only. If you are interested in attending please contact Erika Haldi.

Tuesday, June 24

8:30 a.m.

Registration & Networking

9:00 a.m.

Welcome & Introductions

Speakers

9:15 a.m.

Opening Remarks & Facilitated Discussion

Speakers

10:00 a.m.

Overview of Workshop Goals Building on ASCE-NOAA Task Force Efforts

Speakers

10:30 a.m.

Networking Break

11:00 a.m.

Session 1a: Importance of Infrastructure Investment for Local, State, and National Economies

Speakers

Moderator

Description

Investment in the built environment, including private and commercial real estate and civil infrastructure development, is a fundamental driver of economic development at the local, state, and national levels. Each year, the United States sees roughly $2.1 trillion dollars in construction value put in place, representing hundreds of thousands of jobs and income for American workers. America’s infrastructure is the foundation on which our national economy, global competitiveness, and quality of life depend. This session will explore how recent investments in infrastructure have not only raised America’s overall GPA to a C in the 2025 ASCE Infrastructure Report Card, but how long-term investments in infrastructure and the built environment can have long lasting economic impacts.

11:45 a.m.

Session 1b: Losses from Natural Hazard Related Disasters

Speakers

Moderator

Description

Environmental disasters lead to significant loss and financial impact. Understanding changes in both our built environment and in our exposure and vulnerability to natural disasters is increasingly important to manage future risk from extreme environmental conditions. This session will highlight private, non-governmental, and organizational sector innovations in system-level approaches to integrated assessment and management of risks and losses from natural hazards. Speakers will share insights on their understanding of future economic losses from changing weather dynamics and how long-term resilience planning can avoid costs associated with evolving environmental threats.

12:30 p.m.

Networking Lunch & Group Photo

1:30 p.m.

Session 2a: Financial Risks and Economic Drivers

Speakers

Moderator

Description

In order to effectively drive progress on hazard resilience, real estate decisions must incorporate risk and resilience throughout the design, development, financing, and operation of an asset. The cost of construction is increasing, so costlier buildings and infrastructure are being damaged by floods, storms, and fires. The research community produces a wealth of historical simulations, projections, and models of weather extremes, but more is needed for the real estate community to fully integrate resiliency. This panel will explore how developers, lenders, and owners of commercial real estate balance hazard resilience with the economics that drive their business.

2:15 p.m.

Session 2b: Products and Services for Risk Preparedness

Speakers

Moderator

Description

In the face of more frequent and severe weather dynamics and resulting damages, insurance and reinsurance industries need new datasets and tools to inform accurate pricing analyses, protect the financial solvency of insurance companies, and to help individuals across the country receive timely payouts. NOAA collaborates with primary insurers and reinsurers to enhance the weather and climate data informing their catastrophe risk models and analyses. This partnership enables data-driven decisions that improve resilience and protect life and property across the nation. This panel includes discussion on several tools NOAA is developing to support faster recovery and informed decisions within the insurance industry, including an Event Footprint Catalog, Wind and Hail Climatology, and an updated Storm Events Database.

3:00 p.m.

Networking Break

3:15 p.m.

Session 3a: Dollars and Cents (Sense) of Natural Disaster Reduction

Speakers

Moderator

Description

Improved infrastructure investment strategies and prioritization to reduce damage and losses from disasters can realize resilience and economic growth. Such strategies can improve current and long-term returns on investments (ROIs) and create co-benefits for state and local governments. Investment strategies that include the role of insurance, finance opportunities, and improved infrastructure performance are needed. This panel will explore how engineers, developers, lenders, and insurance policies can work within a framework that considers multiple perspectives for improved resilience and economic growth.

4:00 p.m.

Session 3b: Evolution of Building Codes and Standards (Putting Knowledge into Practice)

Speakers

Moderator

Description

Design standards and Codes are critical documents for design professionals and jurisdictions to regulate infrastructure and ensure minimum performance and life safety. Long development and adoption times can hamstring innovative practices or new methodologies from being used in a timely manner. However, forward-thinking design professionals, owners, and jurisdictions can be empowered to use, require, or adopt novel consensus documents for specific projects or on time frames earlier than traditional national code cycles. This session will explore when designers, owners, and jurisdictions may want to look for innovative approaches and how they do this on a project-by-project approach or via early adoptions. The speakers have designed and approved many projects through the use of innovative design approaches and accelerated adoptions process.

4:45 p.m.

Day 1 Closing & Adjourn

Wednesday, June 25

8:30 a.m.

Registration & Networking

9:00 a.m.

Welcome to Day 2

9:15 a.m.

Session 4a: Resilience Case Studies: Real World Implementations and Proof of Concept

Speakers

Moderator

Description

The proof of a resilience strategy or solution is through the actual performance when an extreme event happens. The panelists will present such examples from observations or simulations from major events, including 3 decades of reconnaissance by Greater Everglades Ecosystem Restoration (GEER) association, the levees design in Louisiana and their performance in Hurricane Ida, and simulations of different strategies for the Marshall wildfire. Actual country-wide cases from investments in transportation resilience in emerging markets by the World Bank will be analyzed. The panelists will be asked for their opinion on how these cases can be used to move the needle towards engineering design and innovative thinking for resilience, considering life quality parameters such as the time to functionally recover from an extreme event while ensuring life safety.

10:30 a.m.

Session 4b: Methods & Tools to Support Financial Decisions for Resilience

Speakers

Moderator

Description

Panelists will discuss advances in engineering methods and tools available that can support financial decisions for resilience as an investment enhancement, and not as an add-on project cost. Applications will demonstrate how yearly returns can be generated and redirected to investments and cost cuts, independent of if the extreme event occurs. The role of innovation in enhancing private sector participation through Public-Private Partnerships and resilience-linked bonds will be discussed as essential ingredients for strengthening America's Infrastructure with broader economic benefits.

11:45 a.m.

Networking Luncheon

12:30 p.m.

Session 4c: Products and Services for Architecture and Engineering

Speakers

Moderator

Description

"Together” is the key word in interdisciplinary relationships like the one between NOAA and ASCE. Without effective translation of our agency’s science into practical use, the best data is meaningless. This session will explore the beginning, middle, and end of this process, showing the state of the art at NOAA for forward-looking modeling, a report from the translation trenches, and perspectives on being at the recipient end of the value chain.

1:30 p.m.

Session 5: Synthesis - Working Together for Resilient Infrastructure Development

Speakers

Moderator

Description

Technical and business perspectives on working together, exploring opportunities to understand financial incentives to work collaboratively with builders, lenders, owners, insurers, and risk managers and making the case for sensible action to increase safety and reduce property loss.

2:30 p.m.

Key takeaways and summary

Speaker

3:00 p.m.

Workshop Adjourns