Improving Post-Earthquake Building Safety Evaluation using the 2015 Gorkha, Nepal, Earthquake Rapid Visual Damage Assessment Data

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 415-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Didier ◽  
Salome Baumberger ◽  
Roman Tobler ◽  
Simona Esposito ◽  
Siddhartha Ghosh ◽  
...  

A Rapid Visual Damage Assessment was initiated in the direct aftermath of the 2015 Gorkha earthquake to assess the safety and damage of residential buildings in the areas affected by the earthquake. Over 30,000 paper assessment forms have been subsequently digitized. The collected data set allows comparison of the observed damage to the residential building stock to the damage expected using existing fragility curves. Under certain conditions and respecting certain limitations, the post-earthquake building safety and damage data can be used to update the existing fragility functions for the Nepalese building stock. Recommendations are made for the improvement of post-earthquake building safety assessments in Nepal in order to: (1) make data collection more consistent, (2) increase the accuracy of the collected data, and (3) make more effective use of the collected data after future earthquakes.

Heritage ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 1433-1468
Author(s):  
Marco Vettore ◽  
Marco Donà ◽  
Pietro Carpanese ◽  
Veronica Follador ◽  
Francesca da Porto ◽  
...  

More than the 60% of the Italian residential building stock had already been built by 1974, when seismic codes were enforced on a minimal part of the country. Unreinforced masonry buildings represent most of that share, but they are typical for each region, in terms of both materials and structural configurations. The definition of ‘regional’, i.e., more specific, vulnerability and exposure models are required to improve existing forecast models. The research presents a new geographic information system (GIS)-based multilevel procedure for earthquake disaster prevention planning at urban scale; it includes multicriteria analysis, such as architectural types, structural vulnerability analysis, microzonation studies, and socio-economic aspects. The procedure has been applied to the municipality of Pordenone (PN), a district town of the Friuli–Venezia–Giulia region, in Northeast Italy. To assess the urban seismic risk, more than 5000 masonry residential buildings were investigated and common types within sub-municipal areas and exposure data were collected. Simplified mechanical analysis provided a ‘regional’ vulnerability model through typological fragility curves. The integration of results into GIS tool permitted the definition of cross-mapping among vulnerability, damage scenarios (conditional and unconditional) and exposure (seismic losses, casualties, impact), with respect to various earthquake intensities expected in the town. These results are presented at different scales: from the single building, to submunicipal area and to the entire town.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4099
Author(s):  
Ann-Kristin Mühlbach ◽  
Olaf Mumm ◽  
Ryan Zeringue ◽  
Oskars Redbergs ◽  
Elisabeth Endres ◽  
...  

The METAPOLIS as the polycentric network of urban–rural settlement is undergoing constant transformation and urbanization processes. In particular, the associated imbalance of the shrinkage and growth of different settlement types in relative geographical proximity causes negative effects, such as urban sprawl and the divergence of urban–rural lifestyles with their related resource, land and energy consumption. Implicitly related to these developments, national and global sustainable development goals for the building sector lead to the question of how a region can be assessed without detailed research and surveys to identify critical areas with high potential for sustainable development. In this study, the TOPOI method is used. It classifies settlement units and their interconnections along the urban–rural gradient, in order to quantify and assess the land-uptake and global warming potential driven by residential developments. Applying standard planning parameters in combination with key data from a comprehensive life cycle assessment of the residential building stock, a detailed understanding of different settlement types and their associated resource and energy consumption is achieved.


Author(s):  
H. Harter ◽  
B. Willenborg ◽  
W. Lang ◽  
T. H. Kolbe

Abstract. Reducing the demand for non-renewable resources and the resulting environmental impact is an objective of sustainable development, to which buildings contribute significantly. In order to realize the goal of reaching a climate-neutral building stock, it must first be analyzed and evaluated in order to develop optimization strategies. The life cycle based consideration and assessment of buildings plays a key role in this process. Approaches and tools already exist for this purpose, but they mainly take the operational energy demand of buildings and not a life cycle based approach into account, especially when assessing technical building services (TBS). Therefore, this paper presents and applies a methodical approach for the life cycle based assessment of the TBS of large residential building stocks, based on semantic 3D city models (CityGML). The methodical approach developed for this purpose describes the procedure for calculating the operational energy demand (already validated) and the heating load of the building, the dimensioning of the TBS components and the calculation of the life cycle assessment. The application of the methodology is illustrated in a case study with over 115,000 residential buildings from Munich, Germany. The study shows that the methodology calculates reliable results and that a significant reduction of the life cycle based energy demand can be achieved by refurbishment measures/scenarios. Nevertheless, the goal of achieving a climate-neutral building stock is a challenge from a life cycle perspective.


Author(s):  
Darija Gajić ◽  
Anna Sandak ◽  
Slobodan Peulić ◽  
Črtomir Tavzes ◽  
Tim Mavrič

System of prefabricated modules installed on the existing building envelope is one alternativesolution for deep energy refurbishment of buildings in the European Union. It allows thermalupgrade installation of new parts in the HVAC system. Moreover, some elements of the envelopecan be made of renewable materials. This research compares the residential building stock andidentifies potential types of buildings for energy refurbishment in Bosnia and Herzegovina andSlovenia. It presents refurbishment possibilities of existing residential building stock in bothcountries with prefabricated timber panels. It also presents potential obstacles to the widerapplication of this refurbishment solution.


Author(s):  
Nicola Giordano ◽  
Flavia De Luca ◽  
Anastasios Sextos

Abstract Schools represent a reference point for communities in any part of the world. Therefore, their safety and resilience against natural catastrophes is of paramount importance. The recent 2015 Gorkha earthquake has unfortunately shown that Nepalese school buildings are highly vulnerable to seismic actions. Most of them are indeed constituted by low-quality unreinforced masonry (URM). The quantification of URM vulnerability is fundamental to estimate the risk associated to school building portfolios at territorial scale. This work discusses statistics available for Nepalese schools and then presents analytical fragility curves for three recurrent URM typologies covering more than 50% of the school building stock. The methodology adopted to derive fragilities is spectral-based and accounts for out-of-plane and in-plane damage potential in a single easy-to-use analytical framework. Inter-building, intra-building and record-to-record variabilities are directly considered in the analysis. The obtained fragilities integrate the studies available for the region and can be used for pre-/post-earthquake risk assessment and prioritization of interventions at country level.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 643-662
Author(s):  
Marco Cerri ◽  
Max Steinhausen ◽  
Heidi Kreibich ◽  
Kai Schröter

Abstract. Flood risk modelling aims to quantify the probability of flooding and the resulting consequences for exposed elements. The assessment of flood damage is a core task that requires the description of complex flood damage processes including the influences of flooding intensity and vulnerability characteristics. Multi-variable modelling approaches are better suited for this purpose than simple stage–damage functions. However, multi-variable flood vulnerability models require detailed input data and often have problems in predicting damage for regions other than those for which they have been developed. A transfer of vulnerability models usually results in a drop of model predictive performance. Here we investigate the questions as to whether data from the open-data source OpenStreetMap is suitable to model flood vulnerability of residential buildings and whether the underlying standardized data model is helpful for transferring models across regions. We develop a new data set by calculating numerical spatial measures for residential-building footprints and combining these variables with an empirical data set of observed flood damage. From this data set random forest regression models are learned using regional subsets and are tested for predicting flood damage in other regions. This regional split-sample validation approach reveals that the predictive performance of models based on OpenStreetMap building geometry data is comparable to alternative multi-variable models, which use comprehensive and detailed information about preparedness, socio-economic status and other aspects of residential-building vulnerability. The transfer of these models for application in other regions should include a test of model performance using independent local flood data. Including numerical spatial measures based on OpenStreetMap building footprints reduces model prediction errors (MAE – mean absolute error – by 20 % and MSE – mean squared error – by 25 %) and increases the reliability of model predictions by a factor of 1.4 in terms of the hit rate when compared to a model that uses only water depth as a predictor. This applies also when the models are transferred to other regions which have not been used for model learning. Further, our results show that using numerical spatial measures derived from OpenStreetMap building footprints does not resolve all problems of model transfer. Still, we conclude that these variables are useful proxies for flood vulnerability modelling because these data are consistent (i.e. input variables and underlying data model have the same definition, format, units, etc.) and openly accessible and thus make it easier and more cost-effective to transfer vulnerability models to other regions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soufiane Boukarta ◽  
Ewa Berezowska

AbstractIn the context of the Algerian energy policy, and through the review of the Algiers’ residential building stock, this paper explores the correlation between the energy consumption of gas and electricity with urban density. Based on a holistic approach of the 57 Algiers’ municipalities, the analysis is organized in two ways. Firstly, the spatial approach is conducted within a GIS implementation, carried out based on the 2013 aggregated annual energy consumption data. The cross analysis of Electricity and Gas consumption and density of population within a GIS spatial distribution approach shows effectively a strong correlation between urban density and energy consumption with a Pearson correlation of −56% and −65% of the Electricity and Gas consumption in the urban municipalities, respectively. Also, the household located in the suburban municipalities consume clearly more energy than the urban centered ones. Based on the electricity and gas consumption, density and carbon footprint we have clustered, within a PCA, the Algiers’ municipalities into three profiles: the “thrifty”, the “intermediate” and the “wasteful” profile.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6959
Author(s):  
Najib Rahman Sabory ◽  
Tomonobo Senjyu ◽  
Adina Hashemi Momand ◽  
Hadya Waqfi ◽  
Nilofar Saboor ◽  
...  

Urbanization and technology have proven to be detrimental to the environment. Buildings contribute a significant portion of this damage. This issue motivated governments, builders, engineers, and architects to seek ways to reduce buildings’ environmental footprints. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is one of the most widely used strategies to ensure energy efficiency and a clean environment in buildings. In Afghanistan, where there are no active regulatory frameworks for energy saving and efficiency for the building sector, it is imperative to promote the transformation of the building industry and practices towards sustainability. In this regard, the role of the residential building sector is of utmost importance due to its major share in the country’s energy consumption and GHG emissions profile. Thus, this study assesses the energy efficiency and environmental impact of existing buildings in Kabul city concerning the LEED rating system. This research suggests practical steps to improve the sustainability of the residential building stock in Kabul city. Robust sets of data on existing residential buildings in Kabul are collected, classified, evaluated, and compared to LEED standards. This research reveals and concludes that most of the existing buildings in Kabul city are in poor conditions and do not meet the minimum requirements to be a candidate for LEED certification. A detailed analysis of the results has led to recommendations on how these buildings could improve to meet the LEED criteria. This is the first study of its kind conducted for Kabul city residential building. Considering the cross-sectoral nature of the building industry, the findings of this study will contribute to many other areas such as water, transportation, ICT, health, energy and the environment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3611
Author(s):  
Hye-Jin Kim ◽  
Do-Young Choi ◽  
Donghyun Seo

In the early 2000s, the Korean government mandated the construction of only zero-energy residential buildings by 2025 and for non-residential buildings from 2030. Two decades since the start of building energy policy enforcement, Korean experts believe that it is time to evaluate its impact. However, few studies have systematically and extensively examined the energy consumption characteristics of the non-residential building stock. In this study, a framework development is implemented for defining non-residential prototypical office buildings based on Korea’s first large-scale non-residential building survey result from the Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI). Then, a detailed building energy model of the defined prototypical building is constructed to verify the model’s energy estimation against observed energy consumption. As an application of the model, a case study for energy policy evaluation utilizing the constructed prototypical building model is presented. Every researcher and county may have their own circumstances when gathering definition data. However, by using the best available representative data, this suggested framework may result in informed decisions regarding energy policy development and evaluation. In addition, the mitigation of greenhouse gases from buildings may be expedited.


Author(s):  
Nermina Zagora ◽  
Mladen Burazor ◽  
Erdin Salihović

This paper intends to bring attention of both scientific and general audience to the status quo of the existing, residential building stock in Bosnia and Herzegovina, highlighting its energy savings potential. The research results presented in this text may be applicable on two levels: on a larger scale, the policy makers may use this data in the process of development of strategic and EE measures implementation plans, while, on a smaller scale, the individual users may gain practical insight into the benefits of energy saving measures and implement them in their own households. Moreover, the exposed data may be subject to further evaluations, studies and comparisons, while the presented methodology can be used by other researchers in countries where there have not been research activities on the existing residential buildings stock from the EE perspective.


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