Book Talk: Climate Change and the Built Environment

Climate change can have enormous impacts on our nation’s public infrastructure. Insurance companies, government agencies, and regulatory entities are continuously reevaluating the risks inherent in the range of situations that we may be confronted with. This shifting landscape has important implications for architects, engineers, planners, and landscape architects, along with public and private owners and asset managers. The 2022 American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) publication Climate Change and the Built Environment brings together experts from relevant disciplines to address climate change impacts on the built environment.

In this session you’ll learn how our nation’s critical highway transportation infrastructure is vulnerable to climate change. Transportation projects in Colorado will be used to illustrate how forward-thinking transportation professionals are addressing these risks. The program will also discuss how Insurance companies use software to model hazards, vulnerability, exposure, and loss from climate change events to quantify adaptation measures and assess mitigation efforts, the two main defenses against climate change. A case study on the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City will demonstrate how both approaches built resilience into the project, which was designed after 2012's Superstorm Sandy.

Welcome:
Andrea Lamberti, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, 2022 President, AIA New York; Partner, Rafael Vinoly Architects

Speakers:
Nicole Boothman-Shepard, Vice President and Senior Director for Resilience + Recovery, AECOM
Amy Hwang, Senior Associate, Technical Development Director, Silman
Nancy M. Rigassio, Vice President and Executive Claims Counsel, AXA XL

Moderator:
Patricia B. Gary, Of Counsel, Donovan Hatem 

About the Speakers:
Nicole Boothman-Shepard is passionate about partnering with communities on strategic risk reduction and amplifying outcomes for equity, sustainability, resilience, climate adaptation, and fiscal stewardship. She provides decision support to government executives on best-value building and infrastructure investments that systematically reduce long-term risk exposure to stresses and shocks. Boothman-Shepard is a sought-after expert in federal disaster policy, funding, and audit risk mitigation for state and local governments, and has facilitated awards totaling $7B in FEMA, FHWA, and HUD funds across the United States.

Amy Hwang is a structural engineer and Technical Development Director at Silman. She joined the firm in 2000 and has worked on many of its most complex and challenging projects. Immediately following the devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, she led an emergency contract for post-disaster assessments issued by the NYC Department of Buildings. She worked directly with the City and organized volunteer teams of engineers to provide rapid and detailed evaluations of buildings across all five boroughs. Currently, she leads a Technical Advancement Group, a rotating group of engineers dedicated to developing knowledge and technical resources.

Nancy M. Rigassio is Vice President and Executive Claims Counsel, AXA XL. She has 20 years of experience in the claims end of the professional liability insurance industry. Her focus is on the defense of high-profile, large-loss claims against design professionals and risk management in negotiating contracts. Before a career in insurance, she practiced trial law in New Jersey defending professional negligence actions. Rigassio has a BA in Economics from Douglass College, and a JD from the Rutgers School of Law.

Patricia B. Gary is Of Counsel at Donovan Hatem in Boston, MA. She focuses her practice on the defense of professional liability actions against architects and engineers. She provides legal advice to construction project participants in drafting and negotiating their design and construction contracts. An experienced appellate attorney, she also concentrates her practice in the area of insurance coverage litigation and advice. Gary earned her BA from Middlebury College and JD from Suffolk University Law School. She is actively involved with ACEC in speaking and writing about risk management issues related to climate change.

This meeting is offered in person at the Center for Architecture; proof of complete COVID-19 vaccination (for attendees ages 5 and up) with photo ID for adults is required to attend in person. Food and beverages will be served. Face masks are required for visitors ages 2-5, and optional for those vaccinated. Read our full Health and Safety Protocol here.