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As architect Lauren Loosveldt welcomed guests to a forum on resiliency after an earthquake, she first reassured them.

鈥淲e will be safe,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his building has been seismically upgraded.鈥�

That set the theme for the evening last week at Vestas‘ Pearl District office: How will Oregon endure a major Cascadia subduction zone earthquake?

鈥淭he Green Champion Summit: From Sustainability to Resilience鈥� was sponsored by the Committee for the Environment for the American Institute of Architects’ Portland chapter.

The event’s two speakers were: local architect Jay Raskin, who was instrumental in creation of the Oregon Resiliency Plan; and Alex Wilson, founder of the in Brattleboro, Vermont.

Raskin spoke first about how a resiliency plan can help communities recover more quickly after a catastrophic event.

Resiliency is the ability of society and structures to function after a catastrophe, Raskin told about 100 guests, and that includes seismic upgrades.

鈥淲e need to make buildings strong enough so we can fix them quickly,鈥� he said.

Raskin noted that both Chile and Japan experienced major earthquakes in 2010, but because they had high resiliency, both were able to rebuild quickly. Oregon is now working toward that goal with its new plan.

鈥淒epending on the time of day and the time of year,鈥� he said, casualties from a major earthquake here could be between 1,250 and 10,000.

鈥淚t was covered pretty well in the (July 20) New Yorker article,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e would have one million truckloads of debris and a 20 percent economic loss to the gross domestic product.鈥�

To ensure resiliency, Raskin said the state plan aims to achieve four things: establish a state resiliency office, make seismic assessments of structures, create incentives for seismic retrofits and update Oregon building policies.

Progress is being made, Raskin said, with the new state resiliency office set to open in January and local loan guarantee programs to come for seismic retrofits.

Architects are 鈥渨ell placed鈥� to lead the discussion about resiliency, he said.

鈥淲e want to (turn) disasters into inconveniences within 72 hours,鈥� he said. 鈥淎rchitects need to be more involved in resiliency.鈥�

Wilson, who has authored several books on green building, and worked extensively on rebuilding after Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, said there are lessons learned from those catastrophes that are being applied today.

For example, those lessons influenced the design of the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital slightly north of Boston.

鈥淲e saw what happened in (Hurricane) Katrina where nurses were breaking windows with furniture (because of the heat),鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat informed the design of the hospital. It has windows that open and the first floor is all tile or concrete and can be flooded with almost no damage.鈥�

Hospitals lost power in New Orleans because auxiliary generators were in flooded basements, but at the hospital near Boston, power equipment was placed on the roof or at the penthouse level, he said.

Wilson also talked about the 鈥渃ascading impacts鈥� of power system failures to Oregon’s 160,000 miles of high voltage lines, 3,400 power plants, 150 refineries and 2.5 million miles of oil and gas pipelines.

鈥淎fter Sandy, gas stations couldn’t pump and even people with home generators couldn’t get the gas to run them,鈥� he said.

Wilson said those stories led to the design of the New England Youth Theatre in Brattleboro, where exterior doors were given 20-inch flood barriers. They protected the building during a recent flood.

鈥淭he water came up to within an inch and a half,鈥� he said, but didn’t enter. The nonprofit theater spent $5,000 to add the flood barriers.

鈥淭hat was a lot (of money) for a nonprofit,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut that simple measure saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in repair costs.鈥�

But resiliency is more than just buildings, Wilson said. Resiliency is about people helping each other in times of disaster.

鈥淩esiliency is as much about community as it is about buildings,鈥� he said.

Land use planning can encourage creation of spaces where people get to know their neighbors, Wilson said.

鈥淎fter Sandy, people took care of each other,鈥� he said. 鈥淩esiliency is about creating ways for people to work together to survive.鈥�

After both men spoke, Loosveldt said there are a lot of different strategies for sustainability and resiliency, and asked them what they considered some of the best ways to ensure fast recovery.

鈥淏uilding codes should be the driver,鈥� Wilson replied. 鈥淏ut (a seismic retrofit) doesn’t increase value. Using the codes approach will be the most successful in the shorter term.鈥�

Raskin answered with a broader outlook.

鈥淚 think the most effective way is to try and create a culture of resilience,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hank you, New Yorker.鈥�