Given their roles as shelters of life and property and venues for human activity, buildings need to be designed and built to protect human life, and property, and to ensure continuity of function. This means buildings must be designed and built to protect against the elements, and also against the impact of natural hazards that may affect them from time to time during their service life.
It should be clear to anyone who objectively assesses risk, or damage in the aftermath of disasters, just meeting the requirements of the applicable building code or business as usual will not do when it comes to designing/constructing buildings in vulnerable locations.
Ricardo Alvarez offers consulting services in various fields including Hazard Mitigation, defined as the practice of utilizing design criteria to reduce the potential for damage to buildings from the impact of recurring natural hazards. Ricardo’s consulting services also include his expertize in Vulnerability Assessment, Characterization of Impact as tools in the practice of Hazard Mitigation as well as Risk Assessment applied to the built environment.
Please go to CONSULTING on the top menu and read about an actual project where Ricardo applied these disciplines. Look for: Assessing Risk: Buildings in Coastal Locations.