Assessment Of Energy Efficient Building Details For Seismic Regions

This open access book presents a methodology for the assessment of structural building details, taking into account the contemporary guidelines for earthquake-resistant and energy-efficient buildings. A review of structural details for energy-efficient buildings revealed that in some cases the structural system is interrupted, leading to solutions which are not suitable for earthquake-prone regions. Such typical examples would be the use of thermal insulation under the building foundation and reduction of the load-bearing elements’ dimensions – also at the potential locations of plastic hinges which are crucial for the dissipation of seismic energy. The proposed methodology of assessment favours a collaboration of architects, engineers, contractors and investors in the early stage of building design. By this the methodology enables efficient decision-making and contributes to a selection of optimal building structural details. The book starts by presenting the typical structural details of the thermal envelope of energy-efficient buildings together with the scientific background required for understanding the process of detail development from all the relevant aspects. Over 20 examples of most frequent details are described and analysed to raise awareness of the importance of earthquake resistance, sustainability, energy-efficiency and thermal comfort for users.

The principle of sustainability should be strictly connected with safety, since both aim to conserve resources: in the case of sustainability, the resources are typically thought of as environmental, while in the case of safety, the resources are basically human. In spite of this common ground, discussions on sustainability usually give insufficient attention to safety. In the last years the EU has made large investments to increase the energy efficiency of the existing building stock, paving the way for a low-carbon future; however, less effort has been made to enhance its seismic resilience. Therefore, the safety and, consequently, the sustainability of towns situated in earthquake-prone countries remain inadequate. In such countries, energy renovation actions should be combined with seismic retrofitting. However, a number of barriers considerably limit the real possibility of extensively undertaking combined retrofit actions, especially for multi-owner housing and high-rise buildings. These barriers are of different kinds: technical (e.g., unfeasibility and/or ineffectiveness of conventional retrofit solutions), financial (e.g., high renovation costs, insufficient incentives/subsidies), organizational (e.g., occupants’ disruption and relocation, renovation consensus by condominium ownerships), and cultural/social (insufficient information and skills, lack of adequate policy measures for promoting renovation actions). This book aims to overcome these barriers and to bridge the gap between sustainability and safety, so to conserve both human and environmental resources.

Many more people are coming to live in earthquake-prone areas, especially urban ones. Many such areas contain low-rise, low-cost housing, while little money is available to retrofit the buildings to avoid total collapse and thus potentially save lives. The lack of money, especially in developing countries, is exacerbated by difficulties with administration, implementation and public awareness. The future of modern earthquake engineering will come to be dominated by new kinds of measuring technologies, new materials developed especially for low-rise, low-cost buildings, simpler and thus lower cost options for retrofitting, cost cutting and raising public awareness. The book covers all the areas involved in this complex issue, from the prevention of total building collapse, through improvement techniques, to legal, financial, taxation and social issues. The contributors have all made valuable contributions in their own particular fields; all of them are or have been closely involved with the issues that can arise in seismic zones in any country. The recent research results published here offer invaluable pointers to practicing engineers and administrators, as well as other scientists whose work involves saving the lives and property of the many millions of people who live and work in hazardous buildings.

In its 11th year, and reporting on the latest research on preparation for and mitigation of future earthquakes, this volume examines an area of increasing importance to many countries around the world. ERES 2017 assembled experts from around the world to present their basic and applied research in the fields of earthquake engineering relevant to the design of structures. As the world’s population has concentrated in urban areas resulting in buildings in regions of high seismic vulnerability, we have seen the consequences of natural disasters take an ever higher toll on human existence. Protecting the built environment in earthquake-prone regions involves not only the optimal design and construction of new facilities, but also the upgrading and rehabilitation of existing structures including heritage buildings, which is an important area of research. Major earthquakes and associated effects, such as tsunamis, continue to stress the need to carry out more research and a better understanding of these phenomena is required to design earthquake resistant buildings and to carry out risk assessment and vulnerability studies. Some of the subject areas covered are: Seismic isolation and energy dissipation; Building performance during earthquakes; Numerical analysis; Performance based design; Experimental studies; Seismic hazards and tsunamis; Safety engineering; Liquefaction; Innovative technologies; Paraseismic devices and Lifelines and resilience.

Containing the latest research on preparation for and mitigation of future earthquakes, this book addresses an area of increasing importance to many areas around the world. It contains research presented at the ninth and latest in a series of biennial conferences on the topic organised by the Wessex Institute. As world population has concentrated in urban areas, we have seen the consequences of natural disasters take an ever higher toll in human life and property. Adding to this trend, earthquake activity is being registered in areas that were not previously very active, thus the need for research into the application of technological advances to the specific area of earthquake engineering. This volume presents those advances. The papers cover Seismic Isolation and Energy Dissipation; Building Performance During Earthquakes; Nonlinear Numerical Analysis; Performance Based Design; Experimental Studies; Seismic Hazard Evaluation and Microzoning for Structural Design; Seismic Hazard Assessment; Case Studies.

This book features chapters based on selected presentations from the International Congress on Advanced Earthquake Resistance of Structures, AERS2016, held in Samsun, Turkey, from 24 to 28 October 2016. It covers the latest advances in three widely popular research areas in Earthquake Engineering: Performance-Based Seismic Design, Seismic Isolation Systems, and Structural Health Monitoring. The book shows the vulnerability of high-rise and seismically isolated buildings to long periods of strong ground motions, and proposes new passive and semi-active structural seismic isolation systems to protect against such effects. These systems are validated through real-time hybrid tests on shaking tables. Structural health monitoring systems provide rapid assessment of structural safety after an earthquake and allow preventive measures to be taken, such as shutting down the elevators and gas lines, before damage occurs. Using the vibration data from instrumented tall buildings, the book demonstrates that large, distant earthquakes and surface waves, which are not accounted for in most attenuation equations, can cause long-duration shaking and damage in tall buildings. The overview of the current performance-based design methodologies includes discussions on the design of tall buildings and the reasons common prescriptive code provisions are not sufficient to address the requirements of tall-building design. In addition, the book explains the modelling and acceptance criteria associated with various performance-based design guidelines, and discusses issues such as selection and scaling of ground motion records, soil-foundation-structure interaction, and seismic instrumentation and peer review needs. The book is of interest to a wide range of professionals in earthquake engineering, including designers, researchers, and graduate students.

Bearing in mind that reinforced concrete is a key component in a majority of built environment structures, Concrete Buildings in Seismic Regions combines the scientific knowledge of earthquake engineering with a focus on the design of reinforced concrete buildings in seismic regions. This book addresses practical design issues, providing an integrated, comprehensible, and clear presentation that is suitable for design practice. It combines current approaches to seismic analysis and design, with a particular focus on reinforced concrete structures, and includes: an overview of structural dynamics analysis and design of new R/C buildings in seismic regions post-earthquake damage evaluation, pre earthquake assessment of buildings and retrofitting procedures seismic risk management of R/C buildings within urban nuclei extended numerical example applications Concrete Buildings in Seismic Regions determines guidelines for the proper structural system for many types of buildings, explores recent developments, and covers the last two decades of analysis, design, and earthquake engineering. Divided into three parts, the book specifically addresses seismic demand issues and the basic issues of structural dynamics, considers the "capacity" of structural systems to withstand seismic effects in terms of strength and deformation, and highlights existing R/C buildings under seismic action. All of the book material has been adjusted to fit a modern seismic code and offers in-depth knowledge of the background upon which the code rules are based. It complies with the last edition of European Codes of Practice for R/C buildings in seismic regions, and includes references to the American Standards in effect for seismic design.