Building Blocks to Sustainable LivingSandra K. Knight, PhD, PE, D.WRE Deputy Administrator for MitigationFederal Insurance and Mitigation Administration

FEMA’s Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration -- Leading the Nation to Build a Stronger, Smarter, Safer America

Great Communities

•Prosperous•Eco-Friendly•Resilient

Sustainable Living

• Sound Economy• Social Equity• Dependable Infrastructure• Culturally Diverse• Good Growth• Safe• Clean• Affordable• Healthy

Prosperous

• Eco-effective• Environmentally Intelligent• Biologically Diverse• Green Economy• Abundant Green space• Adaptive to Nature• Small Carbon footprint

Eco-Friendly

•Lives and livelihood •Risk Awareness •Risk Management•Risk Mitigation•Long Range Plans•Adaptive to change•Opportunistic•Prepared

Disaster Resilient

“Every phenomenon and apparent eccentricity of the river … is controlled by law as immutable as the Creator, and the engineer need only to be insured that he does not ignore the existence of any of these laws, to feel positively certain of the results he aims at.”

--James B. Eads

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Greensburg, Kansas“To provide inspiration and leadership

to Kiowa County in order to be a model of sustainable living for the world.”

Mission of Greensburg GreenTown

Florida’s Post-Disaster Redevelopment Planning

Putting It All Together

Can we build a sustainable vision through better Floodplain Management?

Community Standards•LEED Certification•Cradle-2-Cradle Certification•Smart-Growth•Energy Star•NEPANew Ideas• Carbon Credits• Mitigation Banking• Green CRS

Green Building Blocks

National Building Blocks

• EO 11988• EO 13514• FIFM-TF• NFIP Reform• Long Term Disaster Recovery Work Group• Interagency Climate Change Adaptation

Task Force• WRDA 2007- P&S• Revisions to HSPD 8-National Preparedness• Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction

Mitigation Building Blocks

Societal Responsibility

Economic Development

EnvironmentalIndividual Accountability

Protecting Citizens

Sustainability & Resiliency

Equitable

Viable

Responsible

Accountab

le

Affordable

NFIP R

eform

HMA Portfolio Management

Risk MAP

“The world will not evolve past its current state of crisis by using the same thinking that created the situation.”

--Albert Einstein