Designing for the Unexpected: Integrated Resilience Strategies for High-Performance Buildings
As climate-related risks continue to intensify, buildings are increasingly exposed to extreme weather events, wildfires, and long-term environmental stressors. For today’s high-performance buildings, resilience is no longer an added feature: it is a core design objective. Owners, architects, and engineers are being challenged to deliver buildings that not only meet performance goals under normal conditions, but also maintain safety, functionality, and durability during and after disruptive events.
In this webinar, we will explore how an integrated approach to structural, building enclosure, and fire life safety engineering can support a comprehensive and resilient design. Drawing from cross-disciplinary experience and project case studies, the session will examine strategies to address multiple hazards, including flood, wind, fire, and extreme heat. Key topics will include the role of structural systems in supporting passive survivability under extreme loading conditions, the performance of building enclosure systems in limiting environmental exposure and damage, and fire protection approaches that reduce vulnerability from both adjacent structures and broader fire events. By connecting these disciplines, the presentation will demonstrate how coordinated design decisions can improve building resilience while also supporting long-term sustainability, durability, and decarbonization goals. Attendees will gain practical insights into performance-based approaches, design tradeoffs, and implementation strategies that can be applied to both new construction and existing buildings.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:
- Understand key climate-related hazards and their implications for high-performance building design.
- Identify integrated strategies that combine structural, enclosure, and fire life safety systems to improve resilience.
- Recognize the role of building enclosure systems in mitigating environmental and fire-related risks.
- Discuss performance-based design approaches and coordination strategies that support resilient outcomes.
Participants will earn 1 AIA CES Learning Unit (LU/HSW) for attending the seminar. Registration is free. Please note that space is limited – email events@sgh.com to join our waitlist if the session is closed when you register.
About the Speaker
Leonidia Garbis specializes in building enclosures. She designs and evaluates new and existing building enclosures, focusing on custom curtain wall assemblies from design through construction administration. Her portfolio includes commercial, high-rise residential, and infrastructure projects. She is also skilled in forensic enclosure engineering, including investigations of curtain wall and custom glazing systems. She has extensive knowledge of facade, roofing, and waterproofing systems.
Qianru Guo specializes in developing technical code, accessibility compliance, and fire protection strategies for a wide range of projects. She has extensive expertise in performance-based design, encompassing smoke control, timed egress, and structural fire engineering analyses. She works on fire life safety code consulting, structural finite element analysis, heat transfer analysis, fire modeling, and structural soil interaction analysis for nuclear plants. Qianru has also worked on the expansion and renovation of several high-profile infrastructure projects.
Alexander Stephani is a structural engineer specializing in flood mitigation and resilient design. With expertise in assessing flood hazards and implementing mitigation strategies, Alex has led projects addressing coastal, riverine, and stormwater risks from concept to construction. His work includes developing flood emergency response plans and providing critical recommendations to safeguard infrastructure against diverse flood threats. Alex is an active member of the Structural Engineers Association of New York, contributing to both the Structural Engineering Emergency Response Committee and the Resiliency Committee. He also serves on the New York City Department of Buildings Waterfront Code Committee, helping shape policies for flood resilience in the built environment.
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