Achieving Functional Recovery through Seismic Retrofit of Existing Buildings: Barriers and Opportunities
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 37, Issue 4
Abstract
Earthquakes can cause extensive damage to buildings, with lengthy impacts in terms of community recovery. As a result, there is a growing interest in design approaches and standards for buildings that ensure postearthquake functional recovery. This paper qualitatively explores barriers and opportunities for achieving functional recovery in the retrofit of existing buildings. The study employs a set of focus groups engaging 21 participants who are experienced in the seismic retrofit of reinforced concrete buildings in the US. Qualitative analysis methods were used to analyze the collected data and to identify the key themes. The thematic analysis revealed three groups of owners and buildings: (1) those for which functional recovery-based retrofit may be achievable, including owners with long ownership time horizons, high-value contents or operations, and buildings whose functions cannot easily be relocated; (2) those for which retrofit for functional recovery is likely not needed nor practical, including buildings whose functions can be distributed to provide geographic redundancy or replaced with remote operations or a different building; and (3) buildings for which life safety retrofits, sustainability upgrades, or other renovations may improve functional recovery even if not explicitly targeted. The study also revealed significant barriers related to retrofit costs, insufficient or inadequate tools and guidelines for retrofit implementation, difficulty in communication of benefits, and a contradiction between community-scale goals and building-scale decisions. Opportunities identified to address these barriers include strategies to improve access to capital and funding, measure and communicate economic and other benefits, and develop tools and guidelines. This study is the first to rigorously explore the feasibility of achieving functional recovery for existing buildings, which make up a major part of the US building stock and are, therefore, significant impediments to postearthquake community recovery. The study suggests actions that can facilitate moving towards functional recovery objectives.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. They include data from qualitative analysis (e.g., developed codes and illustrative quotes).
Acknowledgments
Financial support for this work was provided by the US Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology under Financial Assistance Award No. 70NANB19H058. This financial support is gratefully acknowledged. The views expressed are those of the authors and may not represent the official position of the National Institute of Standards and Technology or the US Department of Commerce. We gratefully acknowledge the engineers who participated in the focus groups.
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Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 37 • Issue 4 • August 2023
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© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 21, 2022
Accepted: Mar 16, 2023
Published online: May 11, 2023
Published in print: Aug 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Oct 11, 2023
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