[Someone]

"Protecting a building that has a lifespan of less than 100 years against an event with a probability of occurring between .005 to .002 (the 200-year to 500-year event) is a hard sell."

It is not only protecting the building; it also protects those living in them.

Also, you should use 'expected damage done', not 'life expectancy of hardware' as your metric. Rebuilding your house may cost you a year of productivity. Rebuilding a hospital or factory will easily take more.