Renowned water experts from across the U.S. join together to form the ANCR Water Technical Committee

 Renowned water experts from across the U.S. join together to form the ANCR Water Technical Committee

This committee will help develop the nation’s first whole-community resilience benchmark system to help communities prepare for disaster

 Washington, D.C. – The International Code Council and the Alliance for National & Community Resilience (ANCR) announced its selection of a group of renowned subject matter experts to assist in the development of the U.S.’s first whole-community resilience benchmarks related to water systems.

The ANCR Water Technical Committee will determine the criteria to evaluate a community’s capacity, risk awareness, competence and resources to respond to disasters or other events that affect the quality or availability of water. It consists of government experts, utility representatives, engineers and other industry professionals from the New York City Department of Buildings, National Center for Computational Hydroscience and Engineering, Association of Water Technologists and more. The full roster of subject matter specialists is available here.

“Water is an essential component for resilient communities. From access to clean drinking water to functioning sewage systems, communities must ensure that their water systems are strong, resistant to damage and quick to recover after an incident,” said ANCR’s Chairman Maj. General Warren C. Edwards USA (Ret.). “We are excited to have this distinguished group of water experts to discuss the best ways to measure and prepare communities for a potential disaster.”

The water committee is the second group of subject matter experts that ANCR has brought together to discuss the future of resilience in the U.S. In March, the ANCR Resilient Buildings Technical Committee met for the first time. Since then, nearly 30 resilience experts from around the nation have engaged in regular, thoughtful dialogue about benchmarks for resilient buildings. A final benchmark for resilient commercial buildings will likely be released in late summer 2018. American communities will then be able to use this benchmark as a certified self-assessment to review their current resilience level and as a roadmap to a more resilient building stock in the future.

Next, ANCR will stand up a resilient residential housing and construction committee. Openings are available, and applications are still being accepted. Contact ResilientAlliance@gmail.com for more information.

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About the International Code Council
The International Code Council is a member-focused association. It is dedicated to developing model codes and standards used in the design, build and compliance process to construct safe, sustainable, affordable and resilient structures. Most U.S. communities and many global markets choose the International Codes.

About the Alliance for National & Community Resilience
The Alliance for National & Community Resilience, a member of the ICC Family of Companies, is a coalition of public and private entities working to create the nation’s first whole-community resilience benchmarking system.

ANCR Water Committee

• Jennifer Adams
• Mustafa Altinakar, National Center for Computational Hydroscience and Engineering
• Kathy Baskin, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
• Donna Boyce
• Alan Cohn, New York City Department of Buildings
• Peter E. Greenlimb, Association of Water Technologists
• Joel May, BASF Corporation
• Kevin Morley, American Water Works Association
• Sunil Sinha, Virginia Tech
• Josh Stack, Northeast Green Building Consulting
• Jesus Suarez, Administrator for the Maintenance Division with Tucson Water
• Cristiane Queiroz Surbeck, P.E., Ph.D., ENV SP, The University of Mississippi School of Engineering, American Society of Civil Engineers, Environmental and Water Resources Institute
• Gary Williams, Florida Rural Water Association