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WASHINGTON (May 14, 2014) The Urban Land Institute and other organizations representing the land use, urban planning and real estate industry have announced a commitment to promote resilience in contemporary planning, building materials, design, construction and operational techniques as the solution to making the nation’s aging infrastructure more safe and secure.

ULI Senior Vice President Gayle Berens and leading representatives of nearly two dozen major design and construction industry associations collectively representing more than 700,000 members used the occasion of “Building Safety Month” to issue a joint statement on resilience. The statement was signed at a May 13 event at the National Building Museum, where “Designing for Disaster,” an exhibition presenting design and building solutions for disaster mitigation, opened May 11.

“We recognize that natural and manmade hazards pose an increasing threat to the safety of the public and the vitality of our nation,” reads the statement, in part. “We further recognize that contemporary planning, building materials, design, construction and operational techniques can make our communities more resilient to these threats.”

The industry leaders committed their design and construction sector organizations to significantly improve the resilience of the nation’s entire built environment through research into new materials, construction procedures and other methods to improve the standard of practice. In addition, they committed the industry to educating itself through continuous learning; to advocating for effective land use policies; and to planning for future events, with a strategy for fast recovery.

“We are very pleased to be part of this effort to promote building resilience,” Berens said. “ULI supports building in a way that promotes long-term community resilience – not just in terms of being environmentally conscious, but in offering a high quality of life, and being economically successful. In our view, sustainability, livability and prosperity are all necessary components of community resilience. We can strengthen community resilience through what we build, where we build, and how we build.”

In addition to the ULI, other organizations signing the joint statement on resilience were:

• American Council of Engineering Companies
• American Institute of Architects
• American Planning Association
• American Society of Civil Engineers
• American Society of Interior Designers
• American Society of Landscape Architects
• American Society of Plumbing Engineers
• ASHRAE
• Associated Builders and Contractors
• Associated General Contractors of America
• Building Owners and Managers Association
• International Code Council
• International Interior Design Association
• Lean Construction Institute
• National Association of Home Builders
• National Institute of Building Sciences International Facility Management Association
• National Society of Professional Engineers
• Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
• U.S. Green Building Council

About the Urban Land Institute:
The Urban Land Institute (www.uli.org) is a global nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members.  Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in sustaining and creating thriving communities worldwide.  Established in 1936, the Institute has more than 30,000 members representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.