The best science is not always the best engineering when it comes to building codes. It’s also a problem across the US, as an engineer who works on disaster resilience explains.
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Articles on Building codes
Displaying 1 - 20 of 22 articles
February earthquakes wreaked havoc across Turkey and Syria, killing tens of thousands of people. An engineer originally from Turkey describes what kept some buildings functional while others collapsed.
Texas wasn’t prepared to keep the lights on during Winter Storm Uri, and it won’t be ready for future cold weather unless it starts thinking about energy demand as well as supply.
When Monday’s earthquake struck, many poorly constructed buildings suffered a ‘pancake mode’ collapse.
Dozens of homes near Daytona Beach collapsed or were left unstable when Hurricane Nicole struck. Here’s what can be done to reduce that kind of risk.
As more people move into high fire-risk areas, an architect explains what to do to keep properties as safe as possible.
Residents across the world have seen how the pandemic has ushered in changes – shall and big – to the way their cities look and function.
We must take significant and rapid action now, to ensure cities play their part in limiting dangerous global warming and withstand the climate challenges ahead.
Today’s building codes were implemented as a result of devastating natural disasters that resulted in the loss of human lives and billions of dollars. But they aren’t retroactively applied.
A suite of proposed changes to energy efficiency section of the National Construction Code are a good step forward. However, a lot more can be done.
In 1989, Newcastle was hit by Australia’s deadliest earthquake, but high-rise development in the city’s CBD has continued nonetheless. Australia needs a consistent planning code for earthquake risk.
99% of people below the floors where the planes struck the twin towers evacuated successfully, although their journey was fraught with danger. Their stories have influenced today’s skyscraper designs.
Investigators are searching for what caused the tall apartment building near Miami to suddenly fail. What they find could lead to changes in building codes.
NOAA released its list of climate and weather disasters that cost the nation more than $1 billion each. Like many climate and weather events this past year, it shattered the record.
Changes to the way houses and other buildings are constructed could lower energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
A fire scientist offers a six-point strategy for preventing wildfires and living safely in flammable landscapes.
Two environmental engineers say governments need to do more to protect people from possible water contamination after wildfires.
Buildings aren’t the only things at risk in wildfires. Recent disasters in California have left local water system contaminated with toxic chemicals afterward, slowing return and recovery.
Nepal’s past dealing with multiple disasters, including the aftermath of its civil war and the massive earthquake of 2015 may have helped the country prepare for the current COVID-19 crisis.
The proposed law does little to give people confidence in the apartments they buy. And it utterly neglects the role of architects and on-site inspections in delivering sound buildings.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor, School of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Newcastle
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Adjunct professor of architecture, University of Adelaide
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Lillian Gilbreth Postdoctoral Fellow, Purdue University
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Deputy Head of School, School of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Newcastle
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Adjunct Senior Lecturer, School of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Newcastle
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Professor of Civil, Environmental & Ecological Engineering, Director of the Healthy Plumbing Consortium and Center for Plumbing Safety, Purdue University
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Associate Professor in Property, The University of Melbourne
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Josey Centennial Professor of Energy Resources, The University of Texas at Austin
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Associate Professor of Earthquake Science, The University of Melbourne
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Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, The University of Melbourne
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Professor of Global Urban Politics and Director, Melbourne Centre for Cities, The University of Melbourne
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Assistant Professor, Disaster Research Center, University of Delaware
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Senior Lecturer, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University
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Associate Professor, Anthropology Department and School of Public Policy & Global Affairs, University of British Columbia
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Research Scientist, The University of Texas at Austin
