Lessons from Katrina Can Benefit Communities Nationwide

Almost two years have passed since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. The nation has invested millions of dollars in research conducted by the world’s leading engineers and scientists.

Are there definitive answers about what went wrong and can that knowledge make us safer?

In a report issued recently by the American Society of Civil Engineers, experts who have studied the disaster make public their opinions about what went wrong—and why.

“It’s so easy to react to armchair theories and colorful sound-bites,” said David Daniel, president of the University of Texas at Dallas and chair of the ASCE Hurricane Katrina External Review Panel. “Few people have the time to sort through 7,000 pages of technical data.”

Recognizing its obligation to share these findings so others may learn from this tragedy, the panel developed a list of lessons learns and associated calls to action. This report has been published, in its entirety, on the ASCE Web site, www.asce.org.
Specific recommendations included in the External Review Panel report are:

• Keep safety at the forefront of public priorities by having all responsible agencies re-evaluate their policies and practices to ensure that protection of public safety, health and welfare is the top priority for infrequent but potentially devastating impacts from hurricanes and flooding.

• Encourage Congress to establish and fund a mechanism for nation- wide “Levee Safety and Rehabilitation” program, as is done for major dams.

• Determine the level of acceptable risk in communities through quality programs of public risk communication in New Orleans and other areas threatened by hurricanes and flooding.

• Upgrade engineering design procedures to place greater emphasis on safety.

• Engage independent experts in high-level reviews of all critical life safety structures, including hurricane and flood protection systems.

Second Worldwide Competition
Held For Sustainable Construction

The second Holcim Awards competition to promote sustainable construction worldwide is open.

Entries can be submitted until Feb. 29, 2008, via www.holcimawards.org on the Internet. The prize money for the five regional competitions and the global awards totals $2 million (U.S.).

The awards are an initiative of the Zurich-based Holcim Foundation to inspire a built environment that goes beyond convention to address the challenges of sustainability.
The global competition showcases sustainable responses to technological, environmental, socioeconomic and cultural issues affecting contemporary building and construction.

The awards are open to anyone involved with projects in the area of sustainable construction—architects, planners, engineers, or project owners. All building projects are eligible for the competition if construction had not started before June 1, 2006.
Submissions are evaluated by independent juries in five regions of the world, using a five-point definition of sustainable construction.

These so-called “target issues” serve as a yardstick to measure the degree to which a building contributes to sustainable development. Three of the five target issues align with the primary goals of the Rio Agenda: balanced environmental, social and economic performance.

The juries will be headed by internationally renowned architects and academics. Adèle Naude Santos, dean of architecture with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a jury member this year.