The report focuses on events during this past calendar year, and includes sections on cataclysmic weather events and their impact; policy responses, especially those recommending spending on mitigation; and legislative initiatives. Additional sections focus on state-of-the-art approaches to building a resilient roofing system, and include an index of additional sources of in-depth information on resilience.

The report features statements from key thought leaders on resilience, including Judge Alice Hill of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, formerly special assistant to President Obama on national security and climate change and Andre Desjarlais, program manager for the Building Envelope Systems Research Program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

“This report is designed to be a resource for the building community as we face the challenge of creating resilient structures,” said Jared Blum, executive director of ERA. “While people may disagree about the cause, there is no disagreement that we are experiencing increasingly cataclysmic weather events that threaten our built environment.”

Responding to the heightened interest in and concern over resilience, ERA last year launched its microsite, EpdmTheResilientRoof.org. In addition to information about EPDM products, the ERA website provides a clearinghouse of sources about resilience, as well as an up-to-date roster of recent articles, blog posts, statements of professional organizations and other pertinent information about resilience.  

The full text of ”Building Resilience: The Roofing Perspective” is posted on the ERA website at epdmroofs.org. To request a hard copy of the report, contact info@epdmroofs.org.