Developing Guidelines and Standards for Disaster Resilience of the Built Environment: A Research Needs Assessment (NIST TN 1795)

This white paper is intended to provide a base for open discussion on the need for lifeline performance standards during and after a disaster that impacts a community. The standards establish lifeline performance expectations, which will allow rescue and emergency response groups to plan their activities accordingly. In this paper performance and resilience are used interchangeably. Lifelines are assumed to be available in any situation by everyone. This is largely a result of the reliable lifeline services in normal times. In North America we are fortunate that normal time happens 99% of the time. Technology advances render the lifeline systems more complex than a few decades ago. There is not one lifeline system that does not rely on a certain type of computer to function. On top of this, there is lifeline interdependence – operation of one lifeline depending on the operation of another lifeline. For example, a water pump in a water treatment plant requires electric power to operate. I am sure that there are many approaches to develop a performance standard. The suggestion in this paper is one method or process to achieve the goal of lifeline performance standards. There will be more questions than answers through our discussion.