Victoria Luncheon: Urban Building Performance for Sustainability and Resilience

About the Presenter:
Dr. David N. Bristow, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering – University of Victoria

Dr. David N. Bristow is an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Victoria where he runs the Cities and Infrastructure Systems Lab. He teaches on infrastructure resilience, smart cities and sustainability in civil engineering. David holds Doctorate and Master’s degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Toronto.

His research concerns systems planning and decision making through advancement and integration of theory, methodology and practice in systems engineering and risk management via ecological, network, control system, optimization and thermodynamic approaches from first principles. David’s application areas of expertise include infrastructure systems of systems; buildings; critical infrastructure; and whole cities with emphasis on sustainability, risk and resilience.

About the Topic:  Urban Building Performance for Sustainability and Resilience

Cities and their people, buildings, and organizations function within a global system. They are a major driver of global changes – changes that often alter and bring new risks. These risks include hazards, such as natural disasters; global change, such as climate change; and altered exposure, such as the increasing concentration of value in cities. Design and integration of buildings for sustainable and resilient cities suited to the macro and micro realities is an increasingly recognized need, requiring a deep understanding of the interrelationships among urban systems, inhabitants, and the local and global context. Consideration of how the interplay between sustainability and resiliency can lead to trade-offs or synergies is desired. This talk delineates the progress towards identifying and managing interrelationships that affect the capacity of cities and their buildings to flourish. In particular, an overview of the context is presented. Then, the fundamentals of operational resilience planning are imparted. Next, a method for supporting detailed design and testing of resilience plans is explained. Finally, the opportunity for advancing our ability to balance investment in sustainability and resiliency of buildings is highlighted.