OAA Webinar: Understanding Risk – A Pathway to Resilience

Climate change is here and has costly consequences. In the context of the built environment in Ontario, we can expect more frequent and severe storms, wildfires, and heatwaves among other climate hazards. In order to develop adaptation measures and build resiliency into new construction and retrofit projects, practitioners need to develop an understanding of the risks posed by climate change to the built environment. In this webinar, we will explore two approaches for risk assessments. First, we will discuss the PIEVC High Level Screening Guide (HLSG) developed by Engineers Canada, and owned by the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction and the Climate Risk Institute. It is one of the most popular climate risk assessment frameworks in Canada and is consistent with ISO 31000. We will demonstrate its use through a simplified example of a hypothetical building in Toronto. Secondly, focus on the analysis of one particular hazard of high relevance: flooding, through a demonstration of CanFlood, Canada’s official toolkit for flood risk assessments developed by IBI Group for NRCAN. We will discuss challenges such as creating inventories of buildings and vulnerability functions and how the architectural profession can support and be engaged in advancing our national flood risk assessment expertise.

Learning Outcomes

1. Understand key concepts in climate change and risk assessment such as Representative Concentration Pathway, hazard, exposure, vulnerability and risk
2. Understand general trends in climate in Ontario due to climate change
3. Understand the PIEVC HLSG process and describe how it can be applied
4. Understand the flood risk assessment process followed by CanFlood and describe the challenges when creating building inventories and vulnerability functions

Speakers

David Sol
Mr. Sol is a resilience planner and risk assessment specialist. He has graduate degrees in Communication for Development and Urban Planning and has completed academic research in the areas of multicultural stakeholder engagement, planning for climate change and the effects of information technologies in regional planning. Mr. Sol has a wide range of experience in land use planning, market research, and public participation. He has completed the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) certificate program. With IBI Group, Mr. Sol has become a specialist in assessing the risks and impacts of floods and mitigation options. He leads a multidisciplinary team to complete flood risk assessments and mitigation planning across Canada, working with all levels of government to increase community resilience. He also leads the development of methods and tools for risk assessment practice.

Zane Sloan, PENG
Mr. Sloan is an Associate, Senior Transportation Engineer at IBI Group with over 25 years of industry experience. He provides services in road planning, design, and construction as a Project Manager and Senior Advisor. He leverages his breadth experience in infrastructure to tackle the challenges of vulnerability to climate change, primarily utilizing the PIEVC High Level Screening Guide. Thereafter, working with planners and designers to develop adaptation to climate change solutions.

Ernesto Diaz Lozano Patino, PENG
Ernesto is a licensed professional engineer with experience in building science, sustainability, and climate resilience. His portfolio includes indoor environmental quality research, building restoration, GHG estimates, energy analysis, and climate change and resiliency assessments for buildings and campuses. Ernesto is a GRI Certified Sustainability Professional and holds a Certificate in Project Management.