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Search Publications by: David Butry (Fed)

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Displaying 26 - 50 of 83

Cost Estimates for the Seismic Retrofit of Federally Owned and Leased Buildings

June 25, 2018
Author(s)
Juan F. Fung, David T. Butry, Siamak Sattar, Steven L. McCabe
Presidential Executive Order 13717, Establishing a Federal Earthquake Risk Management Standard, encourages federal agencies to “enhance resilience…[to] future earthquakes” by evaluating and retrofitting existing federal buildings based on current existing

Estimating Structural Seismic Retrofit Costs for Federal Buildings

June 14, 2018
Author(s)
Juan F. Fung, David T. Butry, Siamak Sattar, Steven L. McCabe
In NIST TN 1973 [1], we develop a methodology for estimating seismic retrofit costs. The general approach is to build a predictive model of seismic retrofit costs that (1) captures the essential factors that drive costs, such as building construction type

The Costs and Losses of Wildfires

November 2, 2017
Author(s)
Douglas S. Thomas, David T. Butry, Stanley W. Gilbert, David H. Webb, Juan F. Fung
This report enumerates all possible costs of wildfire management and wildfire-related losses. It, further, compiles estimates or proposes methods for estimating the costs and losses identified. These estimates can be used for C+NVC modeling, and can also

A Methodology for Estimating Seismic Retrofit Costs

September 28, 2017
Author(s)
Juan F. Fung, David T. Butry, Siamak Sattar, Steven L. McCabe
Presidential Executive Order 13717 (EO 13717), Establishing a Federal Earthquake Risk Management Standard, encourages federal agencies to ”enhance resilience...[to] future earthquakes” by evaluating and retrofitting existing federal buildings based on

Under-Reporting of Wildland Fires in NFIRS: California

September 8, 2017
Author(s)
David T. Butry, Douglas S. Thomas
The absence of a comprehensive database on fire occurrence along with the possibility of inaccurate data entry in current datasets means that some proportion of wildfires is not reported and the damage they cause is to some extent unknown. Without this

Identifying Vulnerable Populations to Death and Injuries from Residential Fires

August 4, 2017
Author(s)
Stanley W. Gilbert, David T. Butry
Residential fire casualty risk is a function of an individual’s exposure risk and vulnerability. The previous literature focuses on measuring correlations between socioeconomic factors and casualties, and identifies at-risk population. This study controls

The relation between vegetation and storm-water runoff in Portland, Oregon

September 1, 2016
Author(s)
Geoffrey Donovan, David Butry
Past research has examined the effect of urban trees on storm-water runoff using hydrological models or small-scale experiments. However, there has been no statistical analysis of the influence of trees on runoff in an intact urban watershed. We address

Community Resilience Economic Decision Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems

December 30, 2015
Author(s)
Stanley W. Gilbert, David Butry, Jennifer Helgeson, Robert E. Chapman
This Economic Guide provides a standard economic methodology for evaluating investment decisions aimed to improve the ability of communities to adapt to, withstand, and quickly recover from disasters. The Economic Guide is designed for use in conjunction

The Decline in Reported Smoking-Caused Wildfires

June 21, 2014
Author(s)
David T. Butry, Jeffrey P. Prestemon, Douglas S. Thomas
The number of smoking-caused wildfires has been falling nationwide. On national forests in 2011, smoking-caused wildfires represented only 10 % of their 1980 level. No other cause of wildfire has experienced this level of decline. Using U.S. Forest Service

Reducing the Risk of Fire in Buildings and Communities

January 1, 2014
Author(s)
Anthony Hamins, Jason D. Averill, Nelson P. Bryner, David Butry, Richard Gann, Rick D. Davis, Daniel M. Madrzykowski, Alexander Maranghides, Jiann C. Yang, Matthew Bundy, Samuel Manzello, Jeffrey W. Gilman, Francine K. Amon, William E. Mell
Fire costs and losses are a significant life safety and economic burden on society comprising about two percent of the United States gross domestic product. This paper presents the results of a roadmap developed by the National Institute of Standards and

The Effects of Wildfire Prevention Activities

August 1, 2013
Author(s)
Douglas S. Thomas, David T. Butry, Jeffrey P. Prestemon
Eighty percent of wildfires are human caused, so it is important for decision makers and land managers to consider the role of prevention activities that minimize the costs and losses of human-caused wildfires. There have been significant efforts aimed at

The relation between trees and human health: evidence from the spread of the emerald ash borer

January 8, 2013
Author(s)
Geoffrey Donovan, David Butry, Yvonne Michael, Jeffrey P. Prestemon, Andrew Liebhold, Demetrios Gatziolis, Megan Mao
Background: Exposure to the natural environment may improve human health. However, existing research is limited by the use of cross-sectional study designs. Objectives: We made use of a unique natural experiment—the spread of the emerald ash borer, an

Social Disorder, Accidents, and Municipal Wildfires

December 1, 2012
Author(s)
Douglas S. Thomas, David T. Butry, Jeffrey P. Prestemon
Societal safeguards, established by those who have shared perceptions in the importance of safety and taking preventative measures, reduce the incidence of accidents that harm people and damage property. These safeguards prevent or discourage community

Evaluating Potential Bias in Non-Randomly Reported Fire Incident Data

September 26, 2012
Author(s)
David T. Butry, Douglas S. Thomas
This analysis is a part of an effort to develop statistics and uncertainty measures for characterizing, tracking, and better understanding the root causes of the total burden of fire in the United States. They will be used to develop performance metrics