The US Geological Survey has said that California has a 99.7% chance of having a magnitude 6.7 earthquake — or bigger — in the next three decades. University of California, Berkeley Professor and former Architecture Department Chair Mary Comerio told the Architect’s Newspaper this week that, “California is probably the best-prepared place in the world,” but there are still preventative measures to be taken. She’s trying to bring the green community, architects and the construction industry together to lobby for retrofit laws for old buildings that are at risk.
“There is an important opportunity for working in tandem with the green movement and renovations of existing buildings. Your building isn’t going to be very sustainable if it falls down,” Comerio told the Architect’s Newspaper. She’s right — if modern building codes don’t require the toughest of standards for earthquake protection, the best LEED certified buildings could be rubble in a matter of moments.
Comerio and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) have been researching the structure of buildings in California and around the world in order to target those most at risk. On the West Coast, “soft-story” buildings which have large open ground floors for parking garages or large commercial spaces are in the most danger. Shes calling for everyone involved in the building industry to band together to get legislation passed to require retrofits for existing at-risk structures. In the long run, making buildings sturdier will save money and resources by keeping them upright and safe.
this sounds like a not-so-veiled attempt at creating jobs for the industry through legislation rather than good work. it also sounds like a lot of people who don’t know what they are talking about. earthquake retrofitting laws will put a lot of people into bankruptcy and open the door for lawsuits – something we need less, not more, of. retrofitting for earthquakes also means retrofitting for energy code compliance and ADA regulations (two regulations that are already ruining the way architects do their job). more OSHPD? nearly every building aged 20+ will need to be torn down and rebuilt. last time i checked, thats not very sustainable or economically viable. Mary Comerio should stay in academia where she can get paid to talk rather than produce and leave the rest of us architects alone to do our jobs.