Assessment of Seismic Damage of Buildings and Related Environmental Impacts

Sustainable development has only recently started examining the existing infrastructure, and a key aspect of this is hazard mitigation. To examine buildings under a sustainable perspective requires an understanding of a building's life-cycle environmental costs, including the consideration of associated environmental impacts induced by earthquake damage. Damage repair costs lead to additional material and energy consumption, leading to harmful environmental impacts. Merging results obtained from a seismic evaluation and life-cycle analysis for buildings will give a novel outlook on sustainable design decisions. To evaluate the environmental impacts caused by buildings, long-term impacts accrued throughout a building's lifetime and impacts associated with damage repair need to be quantified. A method and literature review for completing this examination has been developed and is discussed. Using software Athena and HAZUS-MH, this study evaluated the performance of steel and concrete buildings considering their life-cycle assessments and earthquake resistance. It was determined that code design-level greatly effects a building repair and damage estimations. This study presented two case study buildings and found specific results that were obtained using several premade assumptions. Future research recommendations were provided to make this methodology more useful in real-world applications. Examining cost and environmental impacts that a building has through, a cradle-to-grave analysis and seismic damage assessment will help reduce material consumption and construction activities from taking place before and after an earthquake event happens.

Review of assessment, design, and mitigation of multiple hazards

Large parts of the world are subjected to one or more natural hazards, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, tropical storms (hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons), costal inundation and flooding. Virtually the entire world is at risk of man-made hazards. In recent decades, rapid population growth and economic development in hazard-prone areas have greatly increased the potential of multiple hazards to cause damage and destruction of buildings, bridges, power plants, and other infrastructure; thus posing a grave danger to the community and disruption of economic and societal activities. Although an individual hazard is significant in many parts of the United States (U.S.), in certain areas more than one hazard may pose a threat to the constructed environment. In such areas, structural design and construction practices should address multiple hazards in an integrated manner to achieve structural performance that is consistent with owner expectations and general societal objectives. The growing interest and importance of multiple-hazard engineering has been recognized recently. This has spurred the evolution of multiple-hazard risk-assessment frameworks and development of design approaches which have paved way for future research towards sustainable construction of new and improved structures and retrofitting of the existing structures. This report provides a review of literature and the current state of practice for assessment, design and mitigation of the impact of multiple hazards on structural infrastructure. It also presents an overview of future research needs related to multiple-hazard performance of constructed facilities.

CRITERIA FOR SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT DESIGN WITH 3D PRINTING IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD

The demand for consumer goods in the developing world continues to rise as populations and economies grow. As designers, manufacturers, and consumers look for ways to address this growing demand, many are considering the possibilities of 3D printing. Due to 3D printing’s flexibility and relative mobility, it is speculated that 3D printing could help to meet the growing demands of the developing world. While the merits and challenges of distributed manufacturing with 3D printing have been presented, little work has been done to determine the types of products that would be appropriate for such manufacturing. Inspired by the author’s two years of Peace Corps service in the Tanzania and the need for specialty equipment for various projects during that time, an in-depth literature search is undertaken to better understand and summarize the process and capabilities of 3D printing. Human-centered design considerations are developed to focus on the product desirability, the technical feasibility, and the financial viability of using 3D printing within Tanzania. Beginning with concerns of what Tanzanian consumers desire, many concerns later arise in regards to the feasibility of creating products that would be sufficient in strength and quality for the demands of developing world consumers. It is only after these concerns are addressed that the viability of products can be evaluated from an economic perspective. The larger impacts of a product beyond its use are vital in determining how it will affect the social, economic, and environmental well-being of a developing nation such as Tanzania. Thus technology specific criteria are necessary for assessing and quantifying the broader impacts that a 3D-printed product can have within its ecosystem, and appropriate criteria are developed for this purpose. Both sets of criteria are then demonstrated and tested while evaluating the desirability, feasibility, viability, and sustainability of printing a piece of equipment required for the author’s Peace Corps service: a set of Vernier calipers. Required for science educators throughout the country, specialty equipment such as calipers initially appear to be an ideal candidate for 3D printing, though ultimately the printing of calipers is not recommended due to current restrictions in the technology. By examining more specific challenges and opportunities of the products 3D printing can produce, it can be better determined what place 3D printing will have in manufacturing for the developing world. Furthermore, the considerations outlined in this paper could be adapted for other manufacturing technologies and regions of the world, as human centered design and sustainability will be critical in determining how to supply the developing world with the consumer goods it demands.