Mehdi Noori
MIT
Post-doctoral associate in the civil and environmental engineering department at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His work focuses on conducting research and developing tools in life cycle assessment, life cycle cost analysis, and resilience.
Motivation With more than 75% of catastrophic losses in the United States in the period of 1993-2012 caused by windstorms, U.S. faces wind vulnerability in majority of its states, including the 18 coastal states on the... [ view full abstract ]
Motivation With more than 75% of catastrophic losses in the United States in the period of 1993-2012 caused by windstorms, U.S. faces wind vulnerability in majority of its states, including the 18 coastal states on the Atlantic Ocean and Mexican Gulf. Even though it is in society’s interest to invest in more hazard resistant buildings, tools that can aid building designers and owners in better risk-informed decision making are not readily available.
Objective The goal of this paper is to use a new resilience metric for buildings that captures the break-even point of mitigation investments in such buildings over their lifetime.
Method In order to achieve this goal, first a Break-Even Mitigation Percent (BEMP) is proposed as a resourceful and dimensionless measure to the research and professional community that captures the extra first-time mitigation cost as well as possible future benefits of such improvements. Then, a meta-model is developed using the outcomes of FEMA Benefit Cost Analysis (BCA) tool that converts the wind speed, mean recurrence interval (MRI), and geographical variables into hazard repair costs. Finally, the utility of proposed BEMP is demonstrated across a few case studies with wide range of building types and mitigation strategies.
Results The preliminary results of the analysis indicate that BEMP were higher in areas near the coasts, but some communities inland would also benefit from the windstorm mitigation mechanisms. For instance, assuming 7% discount rate over 50 year time period, in Kissimmee, FL the BEMP was found to be 2.2 percent, meaning $220,000 could be spent on mitigating a $10M midrise multi-family building, and break even over the building life.
Keywords: Windstorms, Buildings, Resilience, Hazard Mitigation Mechanisms, Break-Even Point
• Complexity, resilience and sustainability , • Sustainability and resilience metrics , • Resilience and planning
