Building codes & standards

News and Updates

A fire test of an office building floor replica occurring in a fireproof compartment.

How Fire Causes Office-Building Floors to Collapse

March 24, 2020

Engineers and technicians at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) spent months meticulously recreating the long concrete floors supported

NIST Details Steps to Keep Buildings Functioning After Natural Hazards

August 21, 2018

After an earthquake, hurricane, tornado or other natural hazard, it’s considered a win if no one gets hurt and buildings stay standing. But an even bigger

Cornell University engineers testing a novel earthquake-resilient pipeline

NIST Funds 12 Projects to Make Communities More Resilient to Disasters

August 2, 2017

Using biological materials as flame retardants, defining the characteristics of soil liquefaction during earthquakes and collecting disaster data with aerial

Federal Program to Reduce Windstorm Impacts Requests Comments on New Strategic Plan

March 14, 2017

“Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.” When time management guru Alan Lakein wrote these words, he likely

Projects and Programs

Validation of ASCE 41 Procedures in PBSE

Structural engineers are increasingly using Performance-Based Seismic Engineering (PBSE), instead of building code-based prescriptive procedures, in the design

Performance-Based Seismic Engineering (PBSE) for New Buildings Project

Structural collapse demand and capacity are not clearly defined or directly simulated in current Performance-Based Seismic Engineering (PBSE) methodology

National seismic hazards maps display earthquake ground motions for various probability levels across the United States.

Earthquake Risk Reduction in Buildings and Infrastructure Program

Over 40 states in the United States are subject to risk from earthquake, facing potential serious loss of life and injury to citizens, damage to the built

Seismic Response of Reinforced Concrete Walls

This project includes two critical problem-focused tasks in Performance Based Seismic Engineering (PBSE): (1) the evaluation of reinforced concrete wall models

Publications

Application of ASCE 41 to a two-story CFS building

October 23, 2020

Author(s)

Matthew S. Speicher, Zhidong Zhang, Benjamin W. Schafer

The objective of this paper is to summarize the evaluation results from applying the updated performance-based seismic design provisions: ASCE 41-17, on a cold

Seismic Evaluation of a 2-Story Cold-Formed Steel Framed Building using ASCE 41-17

September 29, 2020

Author(s)

Matthew S. Speicher, Ivana Olivares, Benjamin W. Schafer

The objective of this report is to assess the adequacy of new provisions in ASCE 41 for seismic assessment of cold-formed steel framed buildings. A two-story

Building Industry Reporting and Design for Sustainability (BIRDS) Low-Energy Residential Incremental Energy Efficiency Improvements Database Technical Manual: Update

September 22, 2020

Author(s)

Joshua D. Kneifel, Eric G. O'Rear, Priya D. Lavappa, Anne L. Greig, Sangwon Suh

Uncertainty in the Seismic Response of Structural Components due to Material Variability

September 15, 2020

Author(s)

Christopher L. Segura, Siamak Sattar

Inherent variability in the mechanical properties of reinforcing steel and concrete introduces uncertainty into the seismic assessment of reinforced concrete

Tools and Instruments

The National Fire Research Laboratory

The National Fire Research Laboratory (NFRL) is a unique experimental facility dedicated understanding fire behavior and structural response to fire. The