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Resilient Design News For You
Newsletter Volume 5 No. 2 -
June 1, 2022
Greetings, Resilience Ally!

USRC's core purpose is to improve community resilience by establishing and implementing credible and consistent building rating systems that measure expected building performance in natural hazard events. Over time, our members have told us that they find the education work we do a valuable complement. Increasing the demand for resilient design goes hand in hand with increasing its supply.

I'm pleased to announce in this newsletter our newest venture in the public education space: USRC's podcast MAKING RESILIENCE COOL, available now on most platforms including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. USRC reported last summer on the growing popularity of podcasts, particularly since the pandemic, as a conduit for professional communication and thought leadership around disaster risk-reduction.

Each MAKING RESILIENCE COOL episode builds on themes presented in the Resilience Advantage webinar and video series USRC co-produced with sponsor Optimum Seismic, but in this new format, our host is Audrey Luu, a Senior Architectural Engineering student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

It matters to have an aspiring young professional like Ms. Luu step in to drive the conversation. Increasing disaster resilience is a critical pursuit for our society, and we need new leadership talent in the pipeline that can include the perspectives and possibilities of their generation. Resilient design has a lot to offer as a career focus. What are the top things people under 40 want in their careers? A meaningful purpose and the ability to make a difference. Check and check!
 
USRC created this podcast to especially reach students, early career A/E/C pros, and anyone who wants to learn more about how they can contribute to the movement. Ms. Luu's first three deep dives feature three exceptional role models: David Mar of Mar Structural Design, Leslie Chapman-Henderson of FLASH, and Patrick Otellini of Swinterton, former City and County of San Francisco Chief Resilience Officer.

Please have a listen, subscribe, tell us what you think, and share widely. Thank you.
Sincerely,

Evan Reis, SE
USRC Executive Director and Co-Founder
Legislative Updates
USRC and Partners Push for CA Assembly Bill 1721 Moves Forward to the Senate – USRC estimates there are as many as 100,000 vulnerable soft-story buildings in California, potentially housing some 2,500,000 people. See our ESRI story map of the problem. If passed, the California Emergency Services Act would provide hundreds of millions to make housing and communities safer.

Multi-hazard Community Disaster Resilience Zones (CDRZ) Act Moves Ahead – This nascent bipartisan federal bill would require FEMA to maintain and update the National Risk Index and use that dataset to identify and designate CDRZ communities that are most in need. The President would be authorized to provide CDRZ-designated communities with extra assistance and funding for pre-disaster mitigation planning and projects, as well as use CDRZ-designation in prioritizing public and private sector funding for resilience projects. The bill is supported by the Reinsurance Association of America (RAA) which applauded the focus on improving resilience in communities that are the most in need and most at risk from natural disasters. Here's how to find your Congressional members so you can communicate your perspective.
Community Resilience News
On May 5th, 2022, city and state officials joined in acknowledging the loss of approximately 9,000 Latinx residents from San Francisco's Mission District between 2000 to 2019.  But this community is resilient. And the neighborhood is now better fortified against future displacement with the grand opening of the USRC Gold-rated Casa Adelante, now housing 150+ low-income seniors and three permanent office spaces for community-based organizations. An innovative seismic damper design allowed for enhanced performance at a less than 0.25% increase in cost for the $106 million project. 
USRC congratulates the entire community and everyone who proved the cost-effectiveness of resilient affordable housing!
 
Developers / Property Management:

Architectural Design by:
 
Engineering by:
2020 NCSEA Excellence in Structural Engineering - Outstanding Project Award
2021 SEAONC Excellence in Structural Engineering Award
2021 SEAOC Excellence in Structural Engineering Merit Award
 
Key Financing Sources:
SF Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development
Bank of America
Federal Home Loan Bank
Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit
Spike Khan
Jean Yaste
Century Housing Corporation 
From the USRC Blog
TWO POSTS IN THE "SELL RESILIENCE BETTER" SERIES
By Sharyl Rabinovici, PhD, USRC Director of Strategic Communication
Resilient Design Resources

This recent publication outlines directions for improving seismic code development and dissemination, and is already influencing the process. Based on a survey and interviews of technical experts and stakeholders from across the nation, recommendations include requiring paid worked examples for proposed code changes, increasing seismic code developer diversity, and developing an interactive online platform for seismic code provisions.
About Us
The USRC improves community resilience by establishing and implementing credible and consistent rating systems that measure expected building performance in natural hazard events.

We also certify expert structural engineers as USRC Rating Professionals and inform broad audiences on the societal importance of building performance and cost-effective opportunities to improve it.
Case studies of USRC-rated structures, information on how to become a certified USRC Rater, and how to inquire about rating a building rating are available at www.USRC.org.