Performance-Based Comparison of Different Design Alternatives and Retrofit Techniques for Residential Buildings Subjected to Hurricane Hazards

Abstract

In recent years, severe hurricanes have caused enormous economic losses for the society and placed a tremendous burden on the insurance industry. Although different retrofit measures can be used to mitigate hurricane damage and reduce the associated social and economic losses, it is a challenge to choose the most cost effective one. In the case of residential buildings, the resources available for hurricane risk mitigation are limited and the upfront costs of improved design alternatives and retrofit measures are usually high. In this study, a probabilistic Performance-Based Hurricane Engineering (PBHE) framework is used to compare the effectiveness of different hurricane retrofit techniques for residential building from a cost-benefit point of view. A realistic case study is presented to illustrate the methodology and to evaluate the costs and benefits of different hurricane hazard mitigation techniques and design alternatives for residential buildings over the entire design life of the benchmark building.