Decision Frameworks for Multi-Hazard Resilient and Sustainable Buildings (RSB)

Buildings are a significant part of our nation's civil infrastructure for our welfare, livelihood, security, and safety.  Buildings exist in an economic, social, technological, and natural context.  They must be designed for resilience to the multiple natural hazards, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, windstorms (e.g., hurricanes and tornadoes), and floods, which may be experienced over their lifespan.  Their design must also accommodate emerging societal goals for sustainability to reduce their impact on the natural environment.  This high performance for multi-hazard resiliency and sustainability requires a comprehensive understanding of the risks, costs, and opportunities for a range of decisions, from choosing the building materials to designing the many systems comprising the building.  Among these systems, the building's soil-foundation-structural-envelope (SFSE) system is critical to maintain the integrity and functionality of the building to protect occupants and the interior.  

The goal of the Decision Frameworks for Multi-Hazard Resilient and Sustainable Buildings (RSB) solicitation is to advance knowledge for new concepts for multi-hazard resilient and sustainable SFSE building systems using decision frameworks for selection among alternative building system designs.  Research for multi-hazard resilient and sustainable SFSE building systems supported under the this solicitation must include the consideration of a rational decision framework, preferences, concepts for SFSE systems, and design optimization methods for generating and choosing among alternative SFSE systems.

Multidisciplinary collaborations are essential for this research.  Proposals must broadly integrate across the fields of architecture; engineering; material, environmental, social, behavioral, and economic sciences; and other disciplines necessary to address the research scope.  Research supported under this solicitation may include computational, analytical, and/or experimental work.  Research may also undertake the collection of new data or the use of existing data, but the data must be integral to the decision framework.  This solicitation does not support research that generically addresses materials research or decision frameworks outside the context of decision making for multi-hazard resilient and sustainable SFSE building systems.