Climate Science and Building Codes Workshop

At the request of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Appropriations, NIST held a workshop on January 26, 2021 with the goal to connect the U.S. building codes and standards development communities with agencies and organizations collecting and disseminating climate change data.  

The Workshop Report summarized the purpose, scope, presentations, and challenges for incorporating climate science into building codes.

The following are video broadcasts of the proceedings. 

Overview and Plenary Talks

In the opening session, James Olthoff (NIST) welcomed attendees to the workshop. Congressman Matt Cartwright provided a Congressional perspective and motivation for the workshop, Alice Hill (Council on Foreign Relations) delivered plenary remarks on Building Resiliently in a Changing Climate, and Francis Zwiers (U. Victoria) and Zoubir Lounis (National Research Council - Canada) provided an overview of Canada’s Initiative on Climate-Resilient Buildings and Core Public Infrastructure.

Building Codes and Standards Panel

In this session, panelists discuss data needs for building codes and standards.  Panelists include Dominic Sims (International Code Council), Jennifer Jurado (Broward County, FL), Don Scott (PCS Structural Solutions / ASCE), Birgitte Messerschmidt (National Fire Protection Association), Dru Crawley (Bentley Systems Inc  / ASHRAE), and Ann Kosmal (General Services Administration).

Climate Science Panel

In this session, panelists discuss climate science data relevant to the built environment.  Panelists include: Roger Pulwarty (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), Vito Ilacqua (Environmental Protection Agency), Michael Wehner (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), Jeff Arnold (US Army Corps of Engineers), and Mike Bosilovich (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).

Workshop Summary

In this session, Jason Averill (NIST) and James Whetstone (NIST) provide a summary of the workshop discussion, focusing on identified gaps, needs, and future actions to bring climate science into US building codes and standards.