Multiple federal agencies this month initiated new policies to make buildings in the U.S. more resilient to natural disasters.
Among the initiatives announced by the Obama Administration were:
- Incorporation of resilient building codes into U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Department of Agriculture housing programs
- Updates to the 2005 Multihazard Mitigation Council Mitigation Saves study by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Institute of Building Sciences
- A disaster deductible for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Public Assistance program
- Climate change risk screening for the General Services Administration's capital investment leasing program
- Tornado-resilient codes and standards from the National Institute of Standards and Technology
- Resilient building codes from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
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