b'RESILIENCYprecipitationtothewestcoastsof North America and northern Europe. 1Theyarenotnew,buttheirintensity hasnoticeablyincreasedoverthepast decades.Thisrealizationhasgener-atedacollectivereflectiononwhat is happening to our world and what it will take to go through something likethat again.What does it take to get through a storm like that? Californians are asking that same question as I write this; the stateiscurrentlybeingpummeledby aseriesofatmosphericrivers,allofA view of the flooding in the Sumas flats (Abbotsford, B.C.) following the atmospheric river event of November 2021.them originating in the usual sub-trop- (Credit: James Klassen.)icalzoneofthePacificOceannorth oftheequator.Eventslikethosein CaliforniaandthememorablestormStop your money of late 2021 prompt words like dura- from going down the bility or resilience. But what does a word like resilience really mean? Is itdrain, use PlastiSpan just about enduring a significant weathertapered insulation for event, or can we talk about resilience assomething more? all your flat roof assemblies!A WORD TOREDESCRIBE THE FUTUREWordsarecheap.Theycostnothing until,ofcourse,theycostsomething, at which point they usually fall out of favour.Thosethatdonotsufferthis ignominiousendingbecomepopular, even trendy, and consequently they lose their original potency, only to become vague and contested. 2In either case, a certain cynicism can overtake the place ofsuchwordsincommondiscourse, sothatpeopleceasetopaythemany attention. Such is the inevitable fate of the word sustainable, which (like the word organic) has been made to mean almost anything. 3 PlastiSpan is used as theOur proprietary software provides a Resilience is a word imminently ininsulation component in many roofpositive slope to drain for all types danger of becoming cheap, vague andassemblies. Whether built up, singleof layouts. PlastiSpan insulation contested. Nevertheless, at the risk ofply, modified bitumen or standingis listed in a number of ULC and furtherpoisoningthewellwithgoodseam roofing systems, we can meetFactory Mutual roof assemblies. With intentions, I want to explore the notiondesign and delivery timelines onseven manufacturing facilities across of resilience as a desirable characteristicprojects of any scale.Canada, we have you covered.of roofs and suggest (as others already have) that resilience is both complex andPlasti-Fab helps create lasting communities by supplying Expanded Polystyrene simple. Certainly, it is a word that can(EPS) products to construction and civil infrastructure projects. As the only be misused. For example, resilience isvertically-integrated EPS company in North America, we are leading the industry not another word for energy efficiency.with solutions that are healthy for people, communities, and the planet.We have two words for thatenergyplastifab.com Helping create lasting communities. TMefficiency. Of course, energy efficiency andresilienceareconnected,andthe www.rcabc.orgl15'