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Developing Cost-Effective Resource Allocation Strategies to Enhance Community Resilience
Purpose
Advancements in measurement science are needed to estimate the economic impact from planned community resilience enhancements that address hazards (e.g., natural hazards, human-made hazards, and other unexpected hazardous shocks). Measuring the economic impacts of resilience planning requires understanding the full set of the benefits generated—including future losses avoided and non-hazard related impacts to social, economic, and environmental systems (i.e., “co-benefits”)—and the costs of those planned activities.
This project will build upon and go beyond the recently developed Economic Decision Guide Software (EDGe$) Online Tool Version 1.0 (that provides decision support to communities) and ASTM E3130 – 18 (Standard Guide for Developing Cost-Effective Community Resilience Strategies) to facilitate cost-effective resource allocations that minimize the economic impact of hazards and potential disaster events on communities. See Full Project Description.
Objective
To publish decision support tools and materials for engagement with end-user communities, professional organizations, and government agencies that provide comprehensive valuations of community resilience planning (monetary and non-monetary)—for both built and natural infrastructure – accounting for impacts of disruptive events and persistent stressors, including accounting for uncertainties of future events, risk perceptions, and measurement of the co-benefits and co-costs from resilience planning actions.
Products
Economic Decision Guide (EDG)
The Community Resilience Economic Decision Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems (EDG) provides a standard economic methodology for evaluating investment decisions aimed at improving the ability of communities to adapt to, withstand, and quickly recover from disruptive events. The EDG is designed for use in conjunction with the companion Community Resilience Planning Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems.
- The EDG offers an easy-to-follow approach that describes the cost and benefits for the variety of resilience options that a community may be considering.
- The EDG seven-step process assesses and compares alternative infrastructure projects for community resilience by analyzing the benefits and costs associated with competing capital improvements to support selecting investment strategies.
- The EDG can be used as a standalone tool, but it is designed as part of a more comprehensive planning process and in combination with the Guide.
EDGe$ (Economic Decision Guide Software) Online Tool
EDGe$ is a powerful, platform-independent online technique for selecting cost-effective, infrastructure-based community resilience projects based on the process found in the EDG.
It helps the user to identify and compare the relevant present and future resilience costs and benefits associated with new capital investment versus maintaining a community’s status-quo. Benefits include cost savings and damage loss avoidance because enhancing resilience on a community scale creates value, including co-benefits, even if a hazard event does not strike.
- Online Tutorial
- EDGe$ Use Success Stories
Related Publications and Links
- The Community Resilience Economic Decision Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems
- The Community Resilience Economic Decision Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems (Español)
- Community Resilience Planning Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems
- EDGe$ (Economic Decision Guide Software) Online Tool
- Economic Decision Guide Software (EDGe$) with Loss Amplification and Risk Aversion
- Case Studies included in EDGe$ Online Tool:
Contacts
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(301) 975-6136