Each year we spend billions of dollars to respond to and recover from disasters, large and small. This money ultimately comes right out of our pockets in the form of higher insurance premiums and taxes. The question we have isn’t do we need to spend on disaster recovery; it is, are we getting our money’s worth. Is rebuilding a building or neighborhood exactly the way it was before the disaster and in the same place a good investment?

The answer is we can do better and disaster response firms can take the lead. That is the reason we launched the Sustainable Disaster Response Council (SDRC) earlier this year. SDRC is a new member-driven organization that brings together a diverse group of leaders committed to advancing best practices for sustainable disaster recovery and restoration. Our members and strategic partners represent: