Resilience is a newer design concern within the construction industry. With the apparent increase in natural disasters, such as hurricanes and wildfires, the desire for more resilient buildings is on many people’s minds. However, what is resilience and how do gypsum panel products factor into this new way of thinking?
Resilience is a relative term. Nothing is 100 percent resilient. Every material (with the possible exception of a diamond) is susceptible to the effects of some kind of stress, and as a result, is not entirely resilient. A working definition for resilience, currently being considered within ASTM, can be summarized as the ability of a defined system to resist or limit impacts from a stressful event and rapidly return to service.