This project will evaluate the consequences of considering climate change in environmental hazards by measuring how loads that consider climate change alter structural design of buildings and the…

This Cooperative Agreement award from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) under the Measurement and Engineering Research and Standards (CFDA 11.609) Federal Grant Program will evaluate the impacts of incorporating climate change considerations into building design load standards. The $204,838 project, with a performance period from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2026, will develop metrics to quantify how adopting climate-adjusted design loads affects building structural design and failure risk under extreme weather events. The research involves five key tasks: establishing case study buildings, identifying historical and projected climate data, analyzing structural design changes, assessing performance impacts, and iterating on the proposed climate-informed design loads. The goal is to provide evidence-based insights to building code committees deliberating the adoption of climate-adjusted design standards. The prime awardee is the Regents of the University of Colorado, a prominent public research university with extensive federal grant and contract experience across scientific and technological domains.

Activities

The research work is organized into 5 tasks that are used to address key questions that we anticipate engineers and policymakers will ask when they are deliberating about and voting upon the adoption of the loads that consider climate change in building codes and standards. Task 1 will develop a set of case study buildings and locations that vary in terms of typical structural systems (lateral, gravity, roof/floor) and occupancy (residential, retail, commercial, etc.). This list is intended to represent buildings and structural systems that are found in communities across the country. Task 2 will identify historical weather, climate, loads and extreme events, climate projections, and the proposed loads for each building location in task 1. These vignettes are intended to supplement engineers? Experiential knowledge to provide evidence of the need to change and, qualitatively, the magnitude of the needed changes. Task 3 will develop a set of results for each location and building type quantifying how the changes in load materially affect the design of the structure, considering both gravity and lateral-resisting elements. These results will be used to convey the magnitude of the possible changes to the design provisions as well as identify any unintended consequences. Task 4 will develop a set of performance assessment results describing how the changes in load due to consider climate change affect risks of failure and risk of disruptive failure. These results will be used to convey the potential for these loads to reduce risks to the built environment in the face of climate change. Task 5 will consider iterative feedback to improve the proposed loads that consider climate change and their impact on building design.

Expected outcomes

The results of this project will provide new knowledge about the consequences of considering these loads for design practice and structural performance. Although there is a growing body of research on how climate science can be used to inform loads, there are no studies demonstrating systematically the implications of these loads in terms of design practice or failure risks. This project is designed to quantify these consequences in terms of metrics of relevance to engineers and policymakers, focusing on those serving on building code committees to inform the code committee proposal and balloting process. The concept of disruptive damage is also explored as a mechanism for applying concepts of functional recovery to define additional engineering-based metrics of design decisions for performance in multi-hazard context.

Intended beneficiaries

This project will make contributions to research methods by providing a framework for measuring and evaluating changes to building standards. Information gathered from this research will also help improve codes and standards for structures subject to natural hazards, particularly those affected by future climate effects. Additionally, this research will support advances in community resilience planning for future hazards. These advances in characterizing future hazards for design of structures will save lives and limit costs by ensuring sustained structural integrity.

Subrecipient activities

The recipient does not intend to subaward funds.