Contemporary national model codes and standards require revision to improve designs for future hazard events (e.g., wind, storm surge, flooding, etc.) and their impacts on current planning, design, and assessment criteria. Engineering application of future climate hazard projections will reduce impacts, reduce damage and enhance performance during hazard events, and improve post-event recovery.
NIST, in collaboration with ASCE and other stakeholders, will conduct four workshops in 2025 to advance design practice for future hazards and their effects on building performance, including the current efforts underway for ASCE 7-28. The outcomes from the first two workshops on climate projections and engineering design criteria will be presented. Climate topics include confidence and uncertainty in time-varying climate projections, downscaling of climate models to regional areas, converting climate hazard projections to engineering design criteria. Design topics include changes in hazard demand relative to the historical basis and changes in structural capacity due to degradation and geotechnical conditions. Plans for the other two workshops will be presented. These workshops will address climate effects on the built environment, adaptation methods, and resilience considerations.
The goal of these workshops is to identify short- and long-term gaps and research needs for implementing climate change in codes and standards. These workshops can also inform strategic planning for future requirements in the built environment, and potential changes to design scenarios (e.g., nonstationary probability characterization, service life, climate scenarios).
Forward-Looking Building Standards
Standards
