From Understanding Risk to Building for Reality
Workshop Session
This interactive workshop invites participants to take a close, structured look at wildfire resilience measures for homes and properties. Facilitated by the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) and Building Knowledge Canada (BKC), the session will present a detailed set of resilience options including landscaping and fuel management, building design, building materials, and owner/occupant/community considerations, drawing on national wildland-urban interface guidance and real-world field application. Working in small groups, participants will review and assess individual resilience measures against practical factors such as design impact, constructability, owner acceptance, cost, and ongoing maintenance, then help prioritize which measures are most readily implementable versus which require further consideration or face greater barriers. A parallel discussion will explore the human side of resilience — how measures are communicated to buyers and owners, what tools and agreements support long-term upkeep, and how occupant behaviour factors into overall risk.
Mark Rosen
Mark Rosen is a professional architect, CACEA Master Energy Advisor, and nationally recognized building science leader. As Vice President and Director of Building Science at Building Knowledge Canada, he leads the integration of building science, energy modelling, and systems innovation across residential projects nationwide. With more than 18 years of experience in high-performance housing, Mark brings expertise in architecture, energy efficiency, site inspection, energy advisory services, and digital workflow development. His work focuses on practical strategies that improve building performance, resilience, and long-term outcomes for builders and homeowners.
Dan Sandink
Dan Sandink is Senior Director, Resilience Programs at the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction. Since joining ICLR, Dan has authored or co-authored more than 50 technical reports and articles on topics related to protecting Canadians and their property from the impacts of extreme rainfall/urban flooding, high wind, wildland-urban interface fire, and hail. Dan’s writing has also focused on public disaster risk perceptions, public adoption of household disaster risk reduction practices, the role of insurance in managing disasters, climate change adaptation and vulnerability assessment, building materials and products designed to mitigate disaster risk at the household level, among many other topics.
Keith Porter
Dr. Keith Porter, PE, PhD, is a professional engineer, Principal of SPA Risk, and Adjunct Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. His work focuses on helping communities, governments, and organizations better understand and reduce risks from natural hazards and disasters. He led the influential Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves studies, which found that investments in disaster mitigation can avoid up to $13 in losses for every $1 spent, and has contributed to major disaster planning initiatives including ShakeOut, ARkStorm, Tsunami, and HayWired. A Fellow of both the Structural Engineering Institute and the American Society of Civil Engineers, Dr. Porter has authored or co-authored more than 225 scholarly and professional works on natural-hazard risk management. His research has helped shape modern approaches to performance-based engineering, building safety, and community resilience across North America.