Project Budget Comparison of a Conventional Building and a Seismically Isolated Building

Abstract

AbstractThere have been numerous studies in the past three decades about seismic isolation in the field of structural and earthquake engineering. However the studies that take into account economical aspects of implementing seismic isolation to the structures are very rare. In this study, firstly the costs of both conventional and seismically isolated buildings are calculated. Then, the seismically isolated and conventional buildings are compared in terms of their seismic performance and the project budget. Finally, the results of the seismic performance and the cost benefit are presented and discussed. It is obtained from this paper that, although the initial construction cost of the seismically isolated structure is obviously more than the conventional building, eventually in a possible earthquake scenario seismic isolation may provide financial advantage over the conventional building case.