How can communities improve resilience and prepare for potential disasters? Participate in the Multihazard Mitigation Council (MMC) Symposium: Life-Cycle Performance: Moving Forward to More Resilient Communities and engage with the experts on ways to increase community involvement in resilience and potential disaster preparedness. The MMC Symposium will be held Thursday, January 7, 8:00 am – 5:15 pm, as part of Building Innovation 2014: the National Institute of Building Sciences Conference and Expo.

Building on the 2013 MMC Symposium, which had the theme, Large-Scale Mitigation Planning and Strategies, the 2014 MMC Symposium will look at barriers to mitigation in the nation’s local residential and commercial sectors, and how these barriers impact a community’s ability to respond to, and recover from, a disaster. As these barriers are eliminated, the United States becomes more resilient and the nation’s communities gain increased life-cycle performance.

Presenters will make the case for enhanced resiliency in building design and construction based on a state and local perspective of mitigation; using performance-based design; managing future flood conditions; sharing gained experiences; and by understanding the economics of resilience. Speakers will investigate possible mitigation incentives and highlight the pros and cons of voluntary and mandatory efforts to improve community resilience.

The Symposium’s coordinators designed a program that gives participants the opportunity to engage with speakers and each other in extended question and answer (Q&A) sessions on each topic.

• Hon. Susan Brooks, Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, U.S. House of Representatives (invited)
• Charley English, Director, Georgia Emergency Management Agency, and President, National Emergency Management Association (invited)
• Dave Canaan, Director, Mecklenburg County (N.C.) Land and Water Resources
• Leslie Chapman-Henderson, President/Chief Executive Officer, Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, Inc.
• Dr. Keith A. Porter, Associate Research Professor, University of Colorado at Boulder
• Dr. Adam Rose, Coordinator for Economics, National Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events, University of Southern California
• Stephen Szoke, Director of Codes and Standards, Portland Cement Association

Get ready to examine ways to improve mitigation and life-cycle performance in communities.

Register now to attend Building Innovation 2014 and the MMC Symposium and save. Early-bird rates end 10/31/13.

www.nibs.org/conference2014