Seismic Design for Functional Recovery: Progress and Pathways to Codification

Synopsis

In January 2021, NIST (National Institute for Standards and Technology) and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) published FEMA P-2090/NIST SP-1254 Recommended Options for Improving the Built Environment for Post-Earthquake Reoccupancy and Functional Recovery Time, providing recommendations for enabling recovery from extreme seismic events. The first two of the seven recommendations in the report are (1) to develop a framework for post-earthquake reoccupancy and functional recovery objectives, and (2) to design new buildings to meet recovery-based objectives. Currently, the NIBS (National Institute for Building Standards) Building Seismic Safety Council is developing the 2026 NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions for New Buildings and Other Structures (NEHRP Provisions) and defining functional recovery design criteria will be one of the key efforts during this NEHRP Provisions cycle. As the source material for ASCE and IBC seismic design requirements, the NEHRP Provisions build on the latest ASCE 7-22 Seismic Chapters and make modifications based on recent research and development, lessons learned from seismic events, and practitioner feedback. The Functional Recovery Task Committee, via the Provisions Update Committee, has convened five topic subcommittees to define Recovery Key Terms, Categories, Time Targets, Prescriptive Provisions, and Hazard Levels.

About the speaker

Carolina Molina-Hutt is an Associate Professor of Structural and Earthquake Engineering at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, where he leads the Engineering for Seismic Resilience Research Lab (www.esrlab.org). His work focuses on the development of methodological approaches to assess seismic risk in buildings and its implications on urban resilience, and on the translation of this knowledge into tools and information for use by practicing engineers, seismic planners, and policy makers. Carlos is a registered professional engineer in the province of British Columbia in Canada, in the state of California in the US, and is also a chartered engineer in the UK. In 2019, he received the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) Shah Family Innovation Prize. In 2022, he was invited by the US Building Seismic Safety Council, via the Provisions Update Committee, to become a member of the Functional Recovery Task Committee, which has been tasked with developing design procedures for buildings to achieve different functional recovery targets for use in the next generation of building codes. He continues this effort as a member of the Seismic Subcommittee in the ASCE 7-28 code revision cycle.

In-person attendance

The event will held in-person at the Institution of Civil Engineers (see map below). Prior registration is not required. Seats are allocated on a first come, first served basis. We encourage everyone to attend in person if they can. 

Join online

Details will be provided in due course.

Further information

This event is organised by the Society for Earthquake and Civil Engineering Dynamics (SECED), and chaired by Fabio Freddi (UCL). The event is open to all and is free to attend.