Development Of Building Codes Research Articles

Life cycle management of natural infrastructure: assessment of state of practice and current tools

Design alternatives for traditional infrastructure are often compared in terms of expected–and often narrowly defined–costs and benefits to justify the selected plan. Taking a broader life cycle perspective in the benefit-cost evaluation process helps account for potentially rare, indirect, or accruing project benefits. Natural infrastructure design alternatives are generally difficult to compare to conventional alternatives due to their distinctly different costs and benefits. Natural infrastructure differs from conventional infrastructure in terms of performance and benefit development over time, lifespan, materials, intensity of intervention needs, and social and environmental benefits. This paper presents a life cycle framework that expands conventional life cycle analysis to capture other important and relevant aspects of natural and conventional infrastructure, enabling a more complete and equitable comparison of project costs and benefits. The framework consists of four dimensions: risk mitigation performance (e.g., traditional benefit of flood risk management), co-benefits, financial costs (life cycle cost analysis), and environmental costs (life cycle assessment). The framework takes current benefit cost analysis practice for both infrastructure types into account, is informed by existing life cycle evaluation methods and tools and is responsive to the unique needs and characteristics of natural infrastructure. Components of this framework have been advanced elsewhere, including in business product management, asset management, building code development, environmental certifications, ecosystem goods and services accounting, and others, but are generally not developed for natural infrastructure. Our proposed framework provides a roadmap for development of supporting resources to conduct life cycle evaluation for natural infrastructure. Systematically grasping the temporal flow of costs and benefits of natural infrastructure, in comparison to conventional flood risk management projects, will be important as societies address vast infrastructure needs in the face of climate change.

BUILDING CODES IN RURAL AREAS OF PAKISTAN

Building codes are an established strategy for ensuring safe and hygienic construction. These codes' development, adoption by the local councils, enforcement, and cyclic improvement are all substantial in a resilient built environment. Illustriously, the literature review indicates lacunas in building codes in Pakistan, especially in rural areas. The natural disasters and evident climate change in Pakistan are significant threats to Pakistan's built environment. The primary aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of building codes, the challenges faced by building codes, and the venues for improvement for code compliance in rural areas of Pakistan. A qualitative approach was adopted by developing a survey instrument targeting the randomly selected built environment professionals. The responses were analyzed using SPSS V24 for reliability and triangulation of the observed variables and leading constructs. The study's findings demonstrate that the development of building codes, their adoption and enforcement by the local councils, and monitoring need improvement. Furthermore, the study findings suggest that the inclusivity of architects, planners, and code officials in the development of building codes has the ability to bring resilience to the built environment in rural areas of Pakistan.

A numerical study of the impacts of outdoor air intake and air changes per hour on the trichloramine concentrations in a swimming pool enclosure

Trichloramine (NCl3) is a disinfection by-product commonly found in the water and air in indoor swimming pools. The gas is associated with chronic diseases such as asthma and often causes eye and skin irritation. Due to its higher density than air, NCl3 tends to accumulate close to the water surface and above the deck. Mixing ventilation is the main ventilation strategy used in aquatic centers to maintain the NCl3 concentrations at an acceptable level. However, swimming pool halls are known to be significantly energy-intensive, mostly because of water evaporation from the basin. Consequently, building codes recommend maintaining a low airspeed above the pool and deck to minimize evaporation and to ensure swimmers’ thermal comfort. If trichloramine levels are suspected to be too high, pool managers will favor increasing the number of air changes per hour (ACH) while limiting the outdoor air (OA) intake. However, mechanical filtration systems are not designed to remove NCl3 from the airflow. Since its concentration cannot be measured directly, ventilation system parameters are often based on minimum recommendations set out in building codes and may vary in operation according to the CO2 levels in the extracted air, irrespective of the NCl3 level and its accumulation behavior. It remains unknown how the OA intake ratio affects NCl3 levels in breathing zones. This study carries out a numerical investigation of the impacts of the OA and the ACH on NCl3 concentrations in a swimming pool hall in Montreal (Canada). Results show that the minimum recommendations (OA intake and ACH) by ASHRAE are not sufficient to eliminate NCl3 accumulation and stratification in the lower breathing zones. Moreover, air recirculation mostly affects the breathing zones of standing occupants on decks and of lifeguards but has a smaller impact on the breathing zones of swimmers or people sitting on the deck. Eliminating air recirculation does not guarantee better air quality in terms of NCl3 in these breathing zones. The findings for the complex under study may be used to guide similar research in other aquatic centers and for the continuous development of building codes and air quality standards.

A different way of thinking about seismic risk

Seismic risk has traditionally been approached using probabilistic analysis. This dilutes the potential impact of low probability, extreme events that may lead to severe consequences including excessive land damage, building damage, injuries and death. The communication of risk in probabilistic terms is also not clearly understood by most audiences. Further, it is evident that few building developers, owners and users have a good understanding the implications of this and the capacity design of buildings, which may not be repairable after a severe event.
 There is also an adverse impact on planning and land use, where decisions that may affect many people are based on a limited view of adverse outcomes such as liquefaction, lateral spread and slope stability in severe earthquakes.
 A different way of thinking about seismic risk is proposed. An approach of using scenarios derived from a combination of deterministic as well as probabilistic thinking would prompt consideration of impacts over a range of events. This would allow full consideration of which outcomes are clearly not acceptable and which are. This may facilitate planning for both private and public sector, with a common understanding that is relatively easily communicated to both experts and lay people.
 This risk evaluation framework would also facilitate consideration of mitigation, by bringing focus on unacceptable outcomes of severe events that are currently obscured by pure probabilistic analysis. This was missing in Christchurch, which experienced the sort of event we can readily anticipate and should actively plan for in other parts of New Zealand.
 This would help us avoid future red zones and excessive damage and demolition. It will inform development of building codes and standards and will help us evaluate risk and provide resilience and redundancy across the range of interconnected infrastructure networks.
 Informed debate is needed with key decision makers to discuss the underlying objectives of our regulation and how these may be better met by such an approach, without engineers allowing themselves to be trapped in past thinking and assumptions.

Towards conceptual understanding for the adoption of building environmental sustainability assessment methods in the UAE built environment

The UAE is witnessing increased interest for sustainable development which poses challenges on the development processes for the large amount of built environment projects taking place in this emerging economy. While, great attention has been given to the development of tools and methods to measure and assess the performance of buildings to meet specific environmental sustainability targets, however, less is known about the effect of these assessment methods on the built environment development process itself. This paper addresses this gap through the investigation of the adoption of building environmental sustainability assessment methods for development projects in the UAE. Currently, there are two assessment methods in the UAE; Pearl Building Rating (PBR) and Al Sa’fat systems. Background study revealed that both systems: are developed in parallel to the development of building codes, adopt performance-based approach for assessment methods, and their adoption for development projects is basically mandatory. This paper draws from diffusion of innovations theory and growing literature in the adoption of similar assessment methods in projects, with the objective of proposing a conceptual framework that conceptualizes PBR and Al Sa’fat methods as innovations and the development projects as the social system for adoption, while focusing on the adoption process dynamics rather than the decision to adopt or not. The proposed framework captures specific conceptual themes, providing the foundation for further empirical investigation. As such, this paper contributes to the growing literature on the adoption of global energy assessment tools and specifically addresses the UAE’s sustainable development policy and regulation.

Modeling on management strategies for spatial assessment of earthquake disaster vulnerability in Bangladesh

This paper explores sustainable management strategies for mitigation destructive geological disaster earthquake spatial susceptibility in Bangladesh, is located south piedmont plain of Himalaya mountain ranges in South Asia. During the contemporary time, earthquake is regarded as most destructive geological disaster due to its devastating impact on physical environment, socio-economic infrastructure, people’s lives, livelihood and biodiversity of the world. In Bangladesh, earthquake destruction vulnerability is the results of two major factors natural (geological formation, plate tectonic framework, plate margin, geographical location, location of fault and fold) and human intervention (tremendous increase of population, construction of multi-storied concrete building in urban environment, rapid growth of urbanization and industrialization). Both physical and manmade factors accelerated extreme earthquake disaster which impacts on sustainable life style and livelihood patterns of poor peoples as a developing nation Bangladesh of the world. To ensure sustainable management strategies of earthquake spatial susceptibility, the aim of this paper is selected to access earthquakes susceptibility using geostatistical modeling for producing detailed risk to support mitigation approach of earthquakes in present and future in Bangladesh. For this study, almost 94 earthquakes samples are collected from Google Earth during the time period (1961–2018) in inland Bangladesh. In this study, spatial susceptibility map developed by applying geostatistical models with GIS approach which based on earthquakes magnitude (Richter scale) and focus depth (km). Predictive spatial earthquake susceptibility map and risk estimation process will help geologist, geomorphologist, environmental engineers, urban planner, government and non-government organizations for vulnerability assessment including structural (settlement planning, building materials and building code development) and nonstructural mitigation (disaster preparedness approach: pre-disaster, during disaster and post-disaster), spatial risk estimation, disaster crisis and conflict mitigation, relief distribution at national and global level.

Twenty-Seven Years of Manual Fresh Snowfall Density Measurements on Whistler Mountain, British Columbia

ABSTRACTSnow density is important information for a wide range of activities including avalanche control, marketing, building-code development, weather forecasting, and water supply forecasting. Extended recent high-quality datasets from the mountainous regions of the Pacific Northwest coastal area are rare. This paper presents a study of an unusually long and continuous (January 1990 to April 2016) manually collected dataset of fresh snowfall measurements for Whistler Mountain, British Columbia, Canada. The dataset consists of snowboard core measurements that were collected by Whistler–Blackcomb ski patrol staff twice daily for avalanche control and resort-marketing purposes. These records were collated, transcribed, quality controlled, and made computer accessible in this study. A discussion of the characteristics of the data collection site and an assessment of data reliability are presented. Two examples of the many purposes to which this high-quality dataset might be put were studied. Climatic teleconnections to winter (December–February) mean snow density were examined, which revealed a positive relationship to the quadratic form of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation pattern (i.e., PDO2). In addition, an analysis of daily snow density relationships to air mass types was performed, which suggested that higher (lower) densities are associated with maritime inflow (arctic outflow) conditions. Both of these relationships appear to be mediated by the positive correlation between snow density and air temperature.Based on the full dataset (N = 1275 individual snow density measurements) for all months with measured snowfall, annual snowfall season (November to May) mean snow densities ranged from 77 kg m−3 to 109 kg m−3 with an overall mean of 91 kg m−3, giving an overall snow-depth to water-depth ratio of 11:1.

A Performance–Based Building Code in Use

The trend in development of building codes has been to move away from prescriptive codes that describe a particular method that must be complied with, to performance–based or objective–based codes that describe the outcome or level of performance to be achieved. The development of the Building Code of Australia followed this trend, with a fully performance–based version of the code being released in 1996. An independent review of the Australian Building Codes Board, including the impact of the performance–based code was undertaken in 1999. This review reached conclusions about whether the code had met the expectations that were originally envisaged. The performance-based Building Code of Australia followed the ‘Nordic model’ of performance hierarchy, consisting of Objectives, Functional Statements and Performance Requirements. After 3 years of use of the code, and with a major review of how the code should develop in the future under way, the appropriateness of the Nordic model is being questioned. This paper identifies the experiences gained from use of the Building Code of Australia´s performance hierarchy, and factors associated with the regulatory environment that have the potential to influence its success. The code re–development process will be described and current thinking on changes to the performance hierarchy will be exposed. The results from the independent review of the performance–based code is reported here in.

Disaster risk reduction and the evolution of physical development regulation

In 1984 the Mitigation Implementation Conference recognized the need for effective management of urban development in terms of building standards and land-use zonation. In the intervening 25 years, significant progress has been made in the development of building codes and hazard mapping for disaster risk reduction; however, the failure to promulgate, implement and enforce regulation of development has resulted in the dramatic expansion of exposure and risk. It is now necessary to re-assess regulatory policy and practice. New approaches to regulatory compliance must be explored, including participatory regulation and reliance on cultural and religious bases for individual commitment to community safety.

EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI HAZARD IN MYANMAR

Myanmar, lying in a major seismic belt, is indeed earthquake-prone and is vulnerable to hazards from moderate and large magnitude earthquakes, including tsunami hazards along its long coastal areas. The seismotectonics of the region indicates that earthquakes in Myanmar mostly have originated along an active subduction zone (Andaman Megathrust Zone) in the west and along a large transform fault zone (Sagaing Fault Zone) in the middle part of the country. In the past, at least two large magnitude earthquakes along that subduction zones were tsunamigenic. Of course, the tsunami generated by the giant 2004 Sumatra Earthquake also caused moderate damage in some parts of the Myanmar Coast. Thus, it is evident that Myanmar is vulnerable to hazards from moderate and large magnitude earthquakes, including tsunami hazards along its long coastline.The active fault studies (from paleoseismological survey through tectonic geodesy), upgrade and newly installation of seismic station networks, public awareness and curriculum development, building code development and technical training program are priority requirements in the country. Recently, researchers on tectonic geology recognize some active segments of the Sagaing, Kyaukkyan and Kabaw faults, as well as marine and fluvial terraces which seemed to be associated with subduction of India and Burma (Myanmar) plates along the Bengal tectonic boundary. Their study should be extended by providing some instrumentation schemes like global positioning system (GPS) network. Myanmar Earthquake Committee (MEC) has developed a seismic zone map of Myanmar in deterministic approach in 2006, for the sake of providing general information to the user for various purposes, and for public information. Technical development is needed for the completeness of the next generation of seismic zone map of Myanmar which is to be incorporated in Building Code, which in turn requires researches and findings on tectonics of Myanmar.

Capturing the water you already have: Using alternate onsite sources

Onsite sources of water such as air‐conditioner condensate, rainwater, and foundation drain water are often untapped resources that can help save significant volumes of potable water and wastewater. The use of these sources can reduce peak demand on a utility and the subsequent need for future water treatment expansion to meet growing demands. Capital costs are transferred from the utility to the user. Public and private interest in alternate on‐site sources is growing, and there is much opportunity for those who make use of it. However, further development of building codes and regulatory guidance will be necessary to protect public health and promote good design.

Achieving legitimacy: visual discourses in engineering design and green building code development

This paper examines the processes by which early alternative, green-oriented building codes – namely those for straw bale building – were created. It compares these with the visual processes in industrial design work. The comparison reveals clear parallels in the ways in which tacit and experiential knowledge is conveyed through visual representation. The study examines how straw bale building innovators in Arizona and New Mexico, US, used visual discourse to convey technical knowledge within their own building community, and how they used visual discourse in the form of historical documentation, illustrative sketches, and video footage to make a convincing case for their technique as a viable one for code officials, even though visual representations were not allowed in building standards, per se, at the time. The research methods used are participant observation, in-depth interviews, and discourse analysis. Cet article explique comment ont été créés les premiers codes de construction de bâtiments écologiques alternatifs, à savoir les codes de construction de bâtiments en ballots de paille. Il les compare aux processus visuels que l'on trouve dans les travaux de conception industrielle et en dégage un certain parallélisme entre les méthodes de transmission de la connaissance tacite et expérimentale par la représentation visuelle. L'auteur examine comment aux Etats-Unis (en Arizona et dans le Nouveau Mexique) les innovateurs dans le domaine de la construction de bâtiments en ballots paille ont fait appel au discours visuel pour transmettre des connaissances techniques au sein de leur propre communauté professionnelle et comment ils ont utilisé ce discours sous forme de documentation historique, de schémas illustrés et de programmes vidéo pour en faire un argument visant à convaincre les autorités responsables des codes que leur technique était viable alors même que les représentations visuelles n'étaient pas autorisées en tant que telles dans les normes de construction à cette époque. Les méthodes de recherche utilisées sont l'observation des participants, des entretiens approfondis et l'analyse du discours. Mots-clés: technologie alternative, codes de la construction, bâtiments écologiques, pratique désordonnée, pratiques mixtes, savoir situé et pratique, contexte social, discours visuel

HEAD 1.0: A Unified HEllenic Accelerogram Database

During the past thirty years various accelerogram data sets recorded by “free field” strong-motion stations in Greece have been compiled by two institutes that are in charge of running national strong-motion networks. These data sets have been of limited potential use for research because of nonstandard processing, nonhomogeneous earthquake parameters adopted, and a minimum standard of site characterization based only on surface geology. In addition, given an ever-increasing cumulative number of accelerograms, a database was required to facilitate data selection by users. To satisfy all these issues we have developed HEAD version 1.0—a unified HEllenic Accelerogram Database—which is briefly presented in the present paper. Homogeneous strong-motion data processing and site characterization based on detailed borehole data or/and Vs profiles allow the data to be used to their full potential. Instrument and housing characteristics are provided for each station, and relocated earthquake hypocenter parameters and moment-magnitude are given for each earthquake. Understanding the nature of strong ground motion is of crucial importance in reducing seismic risk worldwide. Publication of strong-motion data is essential for development of building codes and design methods for large engineering structures as well as for development of near-field seismology. After realizing the need for organized strong-motion data sets, the scientific community has developed user-friendly databases (among others, Kinoshita, 1998; Steidl and Lee, 2000; Ambraseys et al. , 2002; LDEO/NCEER, 2003). In Greece, deployment of a strong-motion network began in the early 1970's under the auspices of the Geodynamic Institute (GEIN) of the National Observatory of Athens; ten years later the Institute of Engineering Seismology and Earthquake Engineering (ITSAK) began an effort to install a new strong-motion network throughout Greece. Prior to 2000 the vast majority of strong-motion instruments of the national network were analog (SMA-1 Kinemetrics). In recent years, analog recorders have begun to …

Applications for New Real-time Seismic Information: The TriNet Project in Southern California

Historically, California's seismic networks have contributed to emergency response efforts after major earthquakes and provided, within the limits of available technology, rapid information on seismic activity. Since the late 1980's, the information generated by the networks has included magnitude, location, identification of the fault that ruptured, and, more recently, assessment of the probability of damaging aftershocks. While useful, this information was not sufficient to support critical postearthquake emergency management decision-making. With the implementation of TriNet in 1997, this situation has changed in southern California. In a post-Northridge assessment of seismic network performance, scientists concluded that use of new digital broadband sensors, modern data communications methods, and advanced computing could greatly improve the accuracy and timeliness of seismic information and provide useful decision-support tools for emergency responders. In the months that followed Northridge, seismologists responsible for network operations assembled a proposal detailing the necessary steps to develop a state-of-the-art broadband and strong-motion network that would reliably serve the needs of emergency management and those of scientific investigation and building code development (Hauksson et al., 2001; Goltz and Hauksson, 2001). The TriNet project was initiated in 1997 by three institutions: the California Institute of Technology, the California Geological Survey (formerly the California Division of Mines and Geology), and the United States Geological Survey. The five-year effort to build a state-of-the-art digital seismic and strong-motion network was supported by a Hazard Mitigation Grant (HMGP) of $20.8 million with funding provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency through the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services. Because of provisions of the HMGP that tied funding of the project to the Northridge earthquake recovery, funds could be spent only for network enhancement in southern California. The Caltech outreach component (the California Geological Survey sponsored its own outreach program targeting the engineering community) of TriNet …

Seismic hazard evaluation

This paper reviews concepts and trends in seismic hazard characterization that have emerged in the past decade, and identifies trends and concepts that are anticipated during the coming decade. New methods have been developed for characterizing potential earthquake sources that use geological and geodetic data in conjunction with historical seismicity data. Scaling relationships among earthquake source parameters have been developed to provide a more detailed representation of the earthquake source for ground motion prediction. Improved empirical ground motion models have been derived from a strong motion data set that has grown markedly over the past decade. However, these empirical models have a large degree of uncertainty because the magnitude - distance - soil category parameterization of these models often oversimplifies reality. This reflects the fact that other conditions that are known to have an important influence on strong ground motions, such as near- fault rupture directivity effects, crustal waveguide effects, and basin response effects, are not treated as parameters of these simple models. Numerical ground motion models based on seismological theory that include these additional effects have been developed and extensively validated against recorded ground motions, and used to estimate the ground motions of past earthquakes and predict the ground motions of future scenario earthquakes. The probabilistic approach to characterizing the ground motion that a given site will experience in the future is very compatible with current trends in earthquake engineering and the development of building codes. Performance based design requires a more comprehensive representation of ground motions than has conventionally been used. Ground motions estimates are needed at multiple annual probability levels, and may need to be specified not only by response spectra but also by suites of strong motion time histories for input into time-domain non-linear analyses of structures.

Nonbuilding Structures Seismic Design Code Developments

The building code development process has traditionally given little effort to developing the seismic design process of nonbuilding structures. This has created some unique problems and challenges for the structural engineers that design these types of structures. The intended seismic performance requirements for “building” design are based on life safety and collapse prevention. Structural elements in buildings are allowed to yield as a method of seismic energy dissipation. The seismic performance of nonbuilding structures varies depending on the specific type of nonbuilding structure. Nonlinear behavior in some nonbuilding structures is unacceptable while other nonbuilding structures may be allowed to yield during an earthquake. Nonbuilding structures comprise a vast myriad of structures constructed of all types of materials, with markedly different dynamic characteristics, and with a wide range of performance requirements. This paper discusses the development of codes, design practices, and future of the seismic design criteria for nonbuilding structures.