Building codes & standards

News and Updates

Building that has been destroyed by a tornado

NIST, NSF Award More Than $7.6 Million to Support Disaster Resilience Research

May 4, 2022

The agencies are funding 20 projects to be conducted across 24 institutions through the Disaster Resilience Research Grant (DRRG) program, which they manage

Palm trees stand in the foreground before a pile of debris with construction vehicles.

Champlain Towers Photos, Videos and Other Evidence Wanted for NIST Investigation in Surfside, Florida

March 2, 2022

Have you ever been to the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Florida? Maybe without even recognizing it, you could have key information that could

A scientist wearing protective gear holds up a petri dish.

Spotlight: Never Stagnant: Microbiologist Alshae’ Logan’s Path Through the Pipeline Into Science

February 28, 2022

In grade school, Alshae’ Logan hadn’t seen or heard of a Black woman earning a doctoral degree, nor had she been taught of the contributions Black women made to

Projects and Programs

Validation of ASCE 41 Procedures in PBSE

Completed

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

Ongoing

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

Ongoing

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

Ongoing

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

Publications

Economic Evaluation Engine (E3) Technical Manual

May 19, 2022

Author(s)

Joshua D. Kneifel, David Webb, Luke Donmoyer, Jae Young Kim

Economic Analysis of ASCE 7-22 Tornado Load Requirements

March 30, 2022

Author(s)

Joshua D. Kneifel, Marc Levitan, Blake Haney, Benchmark Harris, Thomas Smith, David Butry, Patrick Crawford, Nicholas de Toledo, Douglas Thomas

Modeling of Combustion of Fluorine-Containing Refrigerants

November 17, 2021

Author(s)

Valeri I. Babushok, Donald R. Burgess Jr., Dennis Kim, Michael Hegetschweiler, Gregory T. Linteris

A gas-phase chemical kinetic model for the combustion of C1-C3 fluorine-containing refrigerants is presented, including a list of relevant species, their

Lessons on Return to Function After the 2018 Cook Inlet Earthquake

September 30, 2021

Author(s)

Katherine Johnson, Siamak Sattar, Christopher Segura, Steven McCabe

The magnitude 7.1 Cook Inlet Earthquake of November 2018 greatly affected Anchorage, AK area residents. Although shaking likely did not exceed the hazard level

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