The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) led a Congressional Briefing hosted by The High-Performance Building Coalition: Retrofitting for Resilience and highlighted the urgent need to invest in resilient infrastructure.

The event featured the NIBS Consultative Council’s 2025 Moving Forward report, emphasizing that every dollar invested in resilience returns up to $13 in savings from avoided losses. This report highlights that successful resilience efforts align incentives, investments, and benefits to create better outcomes for lives, livelihoods, and communities across the nation.

Panelists provided expert commentary on:

• Evidence-based strategies for retrofitting buildings and public infrastructure;
• Policy pathways to strengthen community resilience; and 
•  Highlighted the bipartisan bill S. 1323, the FIREWALL Act, championed by Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Senator Tim Sheehy (R-MT), which promotes community resilience through the creation of a new federal tax credit 

This panel brought together a powerhouse lineup of leaders from across the built environment, spanning engineering, design-build, building codes, public policy, and resilience advocacy:

George Guszcza, President and CEO, National Institute of Building Sciences

Tom Smith, Executive Director, American Society of Civil Engineers

Lisa Washington, Executive Director, Design Build Institute of America

Aaron Davis, Deputy Executive Director, BuildStrong America

Aaron Levy, Vice President, International Code Council

Christina Beros, Legislative Aide, Senator Adam Schiff

With 27 billion-dollar disasters recorded in 2024, the discussion underscored the bipartisan opportunity to protect lives, safeguard property, and reduce long-term costs through proactive, resilience-focused legislation and investment.

To read the full 2025 Moving Forward Report, visit www.nibs.org.