Abbie Liel News

Homes that can withstand extremes: New study reveals pathways to housing resilience

Susan Glairon — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 22:40:15 +0000

Homes that can withstand extremes: New study reveals pathways to housing resilience Susan Glairon Tue, 12/09/2025 - 15:40

Professor Abbie Liel along with University of Notre Dame political scientist Susan Ostermann and María J. Echeverría, a civil engineering professor from California State University, Sacramento, have identified building code features that have the biggest impact on hazard resilience and translated those features into tangible, practical building solutions. The findings from their National Science Foundation-funded study were published in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction.

Off

Traditional

White

CUE magazine: A big fix

Susan Glairon — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 20:35:32 +0000

CUE magazine: A big fix Susan Glairon Thu, 06/26/2025 - 14:35

In this 2025 edition of CU Engineering (CUE) magazine, CEAE researchers tackle pressing challenges—such as the increasing frequency and severity of hurricanes, wildfires and floods—head-on, developing innovative solutions to repair aging infrastructure and build a more resilient future.

Off

Traditional

White

What makes some homes, neighborhoods more likely to survive wildfire? New research offers insight

Susan Glairon — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 13:54:09 +0000

What makes some homes, neighborhoods more likely to survive wildfire? New research offers insight Susan Glairon Wed, 06/04/2025 - 07:54

Professor Abbie Liel’s research, recently published in Fire Technology, examined destruction patterns from the December 2021 Marshall Fire, which killed two people and destroyed more than 1,000 homes in �� County.

Off

Traditional

White

LA fire rebuilding recommendations for homeowners

Susan Glairon — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 21:03:47 +0000

LA fire rebuilding recommendations for homeowners Susan Glairon Tue, 04/01/2025 - 15:03

Researchers from the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering share key lessons from post-Marshall Fire rebuilding to help Los Angeles homeowners and others navigate recovery after wildfires.

Off

Traditional

White

Lessons from Lahaina for Los Angeles

Susan Glairon — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 22:02:21 +0000

Lessons from Lahaina for Los Angeles Susan Glairon Thu, 01/30/2025 - 15:02

In this opinion piece, Professor Abbie Liel and Susan Ostermann, Liel's collaborator from the University of Notre Dame, share lessons learned on housing resilience from their NSF-funded research with Lahaina fire survivors.

Off

Traditional

White

Disaster survivors want to rebuild safer, more sustainable homes, but cost misperceptions often stand in the way

Susan Glairon — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 16:15:13 +0000

Disaster survivors want to rebuild safer, more sustainable homes, but cost misperceptions often stand in the way Susan Glairon Fri, 11/08/2024 - 09:15

Professor Abbie Liel and her collaborator Susan Ostermann at Notre Dame are exploring solutions for building homes that can withstand disasters like hurricanes and fires.

Off

Traditional

White

CU �� partners with Notre Dame to improve housing resilience

Susan Glairon — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 11:43:48 +0000

CU �� partners with Notre Dame to improve housing resilience Susan Glairon Mon, 10/07/2024 - 05:43

Susan Glairon

After the 2023 Lahaina Fire devastated Maui's historic town, killing 102 people and destroying more than 2,200 structures, two longtime friends teamed up to study housing resilience—an idea they first discussed in graduate school.

Abbie Liel, a professor of civil, environmental and architectural engineering at the ��, and Susan Ostermann, an assistant professor of global affairs at the University of Notre Dame, are exploring solutions for building homes that can withstand disasters like hurricanes and fires, each approaching the issue from different perspectives.

Liel, a structural engineer, brings expertise in buildings and their hazard and climate-related vulnerabilities. Ostermann, a political scientist and attorney, studies how to achieve desired outcomes, such as resilient housing, through a combination of regulatory and non-regulatory means. Both are exploring how their research findings can inform policy recommendations.

“Everybody wants safe, resilient housing,” Liel says. “Many communities in America have building codes to support that. But, in some places, it doesn't work very well.”

Professor Abbie Liel interviews a resident who lost her home in the Lahaina fire while Bona Park, a Notre Dame student, looks on.

New beginnings
Their idea to collaborate fully emerged during the pandemic when Liel and Ostermann discussed how regulations impact the building industry. The two saw an opportunity to combine Liel’s engineering expertise with Ostermann’s background in political science and law, which led to an NSF proposal that outlined their collaborative vision.

Their Maui study is part of a larger National Science Foundation-funded project on housing resilience that also includes Alaska and Puerto Rico. Alaska experienced an earthquake in 2018 and several high-wind events that resulted in significant damage, while Puerto Rico was struck by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 and earthquakes in 2014 and 2020.

“In Alaska, regulations don't work very well because there's strong pushback against them,” Liel says. “There's no resistance to safe, resilient housing. But there's a strong resistance to a system that says you must do it, and you must do it in a specific way.”

The two are exploring which aspects of regulations are effective. Despite extensive building regulations, surprisingly little research has been done on their impact, Liel says.

One of the problems Liel identifies is the complexity of building codes and regulations.

“I believe in regulations as a mechanism. But they're this,” she says, pulling out several heavy, thick regulation books from her shelf. “And there's a bunch of other books that go with them. Regulations support the goals of safe, resilient housing, but they can also get in the way. We need to understand how culture and local building practices interact with regulatory processes and determine what needs to be tweaked about that system to support resilient housing.

“Builders want to provide safe, resilient houses. However, regulations frequently change. Do they really need three-inch nail spacing or would six-inch spacing be enough? Because using six-inch spacing might be much easier to construct.”

Remnants of a burned house from the 2023 Lahaina Fire.

Different but same
Puerto Rico, Maui and Alaska each have distinct local building practices but share similarities, Liel notes. All three locations are remote and expansive and have significant indigenous populations. Residents in all three areas recognize the uniqueness of their communities and face challenges distinct from more centrally located areas.

“Understanding the differences and similarities between the three locations helps us understand what's going on across America,” Liel says.

Maui faces distinct hazards, such as wildfire risk, in addition to high winds and earthquakes. Hawaii’s regulatory context, compared to Alaska, shows a more general acceptance of building codes and regulations. While Maui residents may feel these regulations don't always serve them well, the emphasis is on improving them rather than dismissing them entirely.

“I’m generalizing from many interviews, but it seems that with a more effective regulatory process—or even non-regulatory approaches— we could achieve better outcomes, enhance hazard management and gain fresh perspectives,” Liel says.

Strengthening research through collaboration
Essential to the project is a team of student research assistants, including three CU �� civil engineering graduate students and five Notre Dame undergraduates representing a variety of majors ranging from global affairs to psychology to mechanical engineering.

As part of the three-area study, the team identified key building safety characteristics crucial for protection from windstorms and earthquakes, then compared how homes in different areas varied in terms of walls, roof shapes, number of stories and the presence of large garages.

Brianna Clark, a CU �� master’s student who graduated in 2024, worked on the Alaska portion of the project, using drone imaging to assess the impact of regulations on construction. She compared areas with plan reviews and inspections to those without, to better understand how regulations influence building practices.

Diego Valdivieso, a CU �� graduate student from Chile, has been researching ways to support wood frame construction in his home country. In Puerto Rico, he and others explored the shift from timber to reinforced concrete—a material that increases embodied carbon and presents seismic vulnerabilities though it offers more safety in hurricanes. Their research investigates how timber could still serve as a viable, hurricane-resistant building option.

“Residents want to avoid roofs blowing off during storms, and it is preventable,” Liel says. “Our goal is to promote knowledge on building hurricane-resistant roofs and support safer construction practices.”

Through regular meetings, CU �� and Notre Dame students connect, and Liel and Ostermann engage with students from both universities. For example, Ostermann was on Clark’s master's thesis committee.

“The students support each other and share their perspectives, creating a rich learning environment,” Liel says. “Instead of working in isolation and combining efforts later, we collaborate on all aspects of the project, ensuring an interdisciplinary approach.

“We learned a lot from past disasters like the Marshall Fire, but my dream is to gain this knowledge before disasters strike. As we build communities, it’s crucial to understand not just safe construction, but also the processes supporting it. We shouldn't wait for the next disaster to figure out how to ensure safety and resilience.”

One example is in Alaska, where the team is exploring how to provide real estate buyers with information to assess a property’s resilience before purchase.

"The 2018 earthquake near Anchorage, showed that some homes withstood the event well, while others did not. Regulations are meant to set a baseline for safety and quality, but in areas where they are absent or poorly enforced, buyers may struggle to gauge a property’s true condition. We’re exploring ways to improve transparency in the home-buying process to address this.”

Next steps
The team will analyze more than 100 interviews completed in Puerto Rico, Alaska and Hawaii, for a comparative study. Next summer, the researchers plan to explore interventions that address the challenges they’ve identified. In Alaska, for example, they might focus on improving building information disclosure, while in Puerto Rico, the team will be exploring how providing information about hurricane straps—how they connect roofs to walls and their availability—could encourage their use.

“This project highlights the power of interdisciplinary collaboration,” Liel says. “Everyone listens and is open to learning from each other.”

The University of Notre Dame contributed to this report.

Professor Abbie Liel and her collaborator Susan Ostermann at Notre Dame are exploring solutions for building homes that can withstand disasters like hurricanes and fires.

Off

Traditional

White

Professors Abbie Liel and Susan Osterman, and Bona Park, a Notre Dame mechanical engineering student, walk next to a memorial for the 2023 Lahaina Fire on the island of Maui. Photos by Matthew Thayer, courtesy of University of Notre Dame.

Women’s History Month: A Conversation with Professor Abbie Liel

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 16:47:43 +0000

Women’s History Month: A Conversation with Professor Abbie Liel Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 03/26/2024 - 10:47

Professor Abbie Liel's work focuses on finding new ways to design and assess structures to withstand extreme conditions, aiming to make them safer and more sustainable.

Off

Traditional

White

Colorado prisons vulnerable to natural disasters but may be ill-prepared

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 20:15:00 +0000

Colorado prisons vulnerable to natural disasters but may be ill-prepared Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 10/25/2023 - 14:15

Seventy-five percent of incarceration facilities in the state are vulnerable to climate-related hazards, such as wildfires, extreme heat, floods or landslides, and many are ill-equipped to handle them, new research by Geotechnical Engineering Professor Shideh Dashti suggests.

Off

Traditional

White

Assoc. Prof. Shideh Dashti & Prof. Abbie Liel on Incarceration in a Warming World panel, Sept. 29, 3-4:30, DLC 1B70

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 16:11:26 +0000

Assoc. Prof. Shideh Dashti & Prof. Abbie Liel on Incarceration in a Warming World panel, Sept. 29, 3-4:30, DLC 1B70 Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 09/15/2023 - 10:11

Off

Traditional

White

Abbie Liel News

Homes that can withstand extremes: New study reveals pathways to housing resilience

Off

CUE magazine: A big fix

Off

What makes some homes, neighborhoods more likely to survive wildfire? New research offers insight

Off

LA fire rebuilding recommendations for homeowners

Off

Lessons from Lahaina for Los Angeles

Off

Disaster survivors want to rebuild safer, more sustainable homes, but cost misperceptions often stand in the way

Off

CU �������� partners with Notre Dame to improve housing resilience

Off

Women’s History Month: A Conversation with Professor Abbie Liel

Off

Colorado prisons vulnerable to natural disasters but may be ill-prepared

Off

Assoc. Prof. Shideh Dashti & Prof. Abbie Liel on Incarceration in a Warming World panel, Sept. 29, 3-4:30, DLC 1B70

Off

CU �� partners with Notre Dame to improve housing resilience