WASHINGTON (May 13, 2014) – Leaders of America’s design and construction industry, along with building owners and operators, for the first time have agreed to promote resilience in contemporary planning, building materials, design, construction and operational techniques as the solution to making the nation’s aging infrastructure more safe and secure. CEOs of almost two-dozen leading design and construction industry associations with more than 700,000 members generating almost $1 trillion in GDP today used the occasion of “Building Safety Month” to issue a joint statement on resilience, which can be found here. The statement was unveiled at a press conference at the National Building Museum, where a major exhibition titled "Designing for Disaster" presents design and building solutions for disaster mitigation, opened May 11. “We recognize that natural and manmade hazards pose an increasing threat to the safety of the public and the vitality of our nation,” reads the statement, in part. “We further recognize that contemporary planning, building materials, design, construction and operational techniques can make our communities more resilient to these threats.” The CEOs committed their design and construction sector organizations to significantly improve the resilience of the nation’s entire built environment through research into new materials, construction procedures and other methods to improve the standard of practice. Among other things, they also committed the industry to educating itself through continuous learning; to advocating for effective land use policies; to responding to disasters alongside first responders; and to planning for future events, with a strategy for fast recovery. “Resilient design places architects at the center of the solution, with particular emphasis on the private, non-governmental sectors," said American Institute of Architects CEO Robert Ivy, FAIA. “I would like to congratulate my fellow leaders in the design and construction sector for joining together to make sure resiliency is not viewed as just a fad but remains front and center in our efforts moving forward.” In addition to the AIA, here is a list of organizations signing onto the joint statement on resilience: American Council of Engineering Companies American Planning Association American Society of Civil Engineers American Society of Interior Designers American Society of Landscape Architects American Society of Plumbing Engineers ASHRAE Associated Builders and Contractors Associated General Contractors of America Building Owners and Managers Association International Code Council International Interior Design Association Lean Construction Institute National Association of Home Builders National Institute of Building Sciences International Facility Management Association National Society of Professional Engineers Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors Urban Land Institute U.S. Green Building Council