Disaster
AR5 Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, Glossary, published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines disaster as: Severe alterations in the normal functioning of a community or a society due to hazardous physical events interacting with vulnerable social conditions, leading to widespread adverse human, material, economic, or environmental effects that require immediate emergency response to satisfy critical human needs and that may require external support for recovery.’
It defines disaster management as: ‘Social processes for designing, implementing, and evaluating strategies, policies, and measures that promote and improve disaster preparedness, response, and recovery practices at different organizational and societal levels.’
Articles about disaster on Designing Buildings include:
- After Mexico - earthquakes and resilient cities.
- Avoiding disaster in existing buildings and infrastructure.
- Climate change.
- Disaster Planning.
- Disaster Planning: North Staffs.
- Disaster Planning: School Buildings.
- Earthquake Design Practice for Buildings.
- Earthquake resistant building materials.
- Earthquakes and the seismic strengthening of churches.
- Engineers and hurricanes.
- Flood.
- Future proofing construction.
- Helping communities recover from disasters and protecting them before they occur.
- How to rebuild using the debris from disasters.
- Hurricane cellar.
- Hurricane design considerations.
- Managing and Responding to Disaster.
- Natural disaster.
- Research and development in disaster response.
- Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
- Summerland disaster.
- Ten years on – Lessons from the Flood on building resilience.
- Tropical cylcone.
- Tsunami.
Featured articles and news
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Government urged to uphold Warm Homes commitment
ECA and industry bodies write to Government concerning its 13.2 billion Warm Homes manifesto commitment.
Places of Worship in Britain and Ireland, 1929-1990. Book review.
The emancipation of women in art.
CIOB Construction Manager of the Year 2025
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Call for independent National Grenfell oversight mechanism
MHCLG share findings of Building Safety Inquiry in letter to Secretary of State and Minister for Building Safety.
The Architectural Technology Awards
AT Awards now open for this the sixth decade of CIAT.
50th Golden anniversary ECA Edmundson awards
Deadline for submissions Friday 30 May 2025.
The benefits of precast, off-site foundation systems
Top ten benefits of this notable innovation.
Encouraging individuals to take action saving water at home, work, and in their communities.
Takes a community to support mental health and wellbeing
The why of becoming a Mental Health Instructor explained.
Mental health awareness week 13-18 May
The theme is communities, they can provide a sense of belonging, safety, support in hard times, and a sense purpose.
Mental health support on the rise but workers still struggling
CIOB Understanding Mental Health in the Built Environment 2025 shows.
Design and construction material libraries
Material, sample, product or detail libraries a key component of any architectural design practice.
Construction Products Reform Green Paper and Consultation
Still time to respond as consultation closes on 21 May 2025.
Resilient façade systems for smog reduction in Shanghai
A technical approach using computer simulation and analysis of solar radiation, wind patterns, and ventilation.