We wish to express our profound admiration and deepest respect for the Hawaii National Guard and the brave crews confronting the challenging and devastating fires on Maui. It is during such crises that the strength and unity of a community truly shine through, and the enduring spirit of aloha has never been more evident.

Plan to join the National Institute of Building Sciences Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC) to find out about the latest on the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) NEHRP Recommended Provisions for New Buildings and Other Structures and Project 17, Development of Next-Generation Seismic Maps, when the BSSC presents its Second Annual BSSC Colloquium, “Seismic Design Update 2016: An Interactive Exploration of the 2020 NEHRP Provisions and Project 17 Issues.” The BSSC Colloquium will be held 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. PT, March 8, 2016, at the Embassy Suites Hotel – Waterfront, in Burlingame, California, located some five miles south of the San Francisco International Airport.

Representatives from the National Institute of Building Sciences visited the White House yesterday to attend The Earthquake Resilience Summit hosted by the Obama Administration. During the Summit, the Administration issued the February 2 Executive Order: Establishing a Federal Earthquake Risk Management Standard. Participants also reported on advancements in earthquake early warning systems and the importance of building codes in setting the foundations for community safety.

On a panel entitled “Building for Earthquake Safety,” International Code Council (ICC) Chief Executive Officer Dominic Sims, an Institute Sustaining Organization member, mentioned the important role of seismic science in informing codes and standards, and highlighted the work of the Institute’s Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC).

The National Institute of Building Sciences Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC) will host a free webinar Tuesday, March 22, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm EDT, to present updates to site factors in the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program’s (NEHRP) 2015 NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions and ASCE/SEI 7-16, Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures. The presentation will address the changes to site coefficients in Chapter 11: Seismic Design Criteria, Section 11.4.3 and the revisions to Chapter 21: Site Specific Ground Motion Procedures for Seismic Design, Section 21.4 that affected the final version of those coefficients.

This webinar is the first in a series of monthly webinars hosted by the Institute and sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The National Institute of Building Sciences Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC) will host a webinar Thursday, April 28, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm ET, highlighting content in the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program’s (NEHRP) 2015 NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions and ASCE/SEI 7-16, Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures.

Curt B. Haselton, PhD, PE, professor of civil engineering at the California State University, Chico, will present his research on Chapter 16: Nonlinear Response-History Analysis for the Design of New Buildings, followed by a question-and-answer session with the webinar audience. Professor Haselton's research focuses on assessing the collapse safety of buildings in earthquakes; this involves issues of ground motion selection and scaling, nonlinear structural modeling and collapse simulation, as well as the treatment of uncertainties (in both the ground motion and the structural modeling). Architects who complete the seminar will be eligible to receive one health, safety and welfare (HSW) learning unit (LU) from the American Institute of Architects. Engineers are eligible to receive one professional development hour (PDH).

The third in a series of webinars sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that highlight the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program’s (NEHRP) 2015 NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions for Buildings and Other Structures, this webinar will provide an overview of the NEHRP Recommended Provisions: Design Examples, which illustrate and explain the applications of the 2015 NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions; ASCE 7-16: Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures; and the material design standards referenced in both documents.

In less than two weeks, the National Institute of Building Sciences Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC) will host a free webinar. The “2015 NEHRP Design Examples” webinar with take place Tuesday, June 28, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm ET.

The third in a series of webinars sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that highlight the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program’s (NEHRP) 2015 NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions for Buildings and Other Structures, this webinar will provide an overview of the NEHRP Recommended Provisions: Design Examples, which illustrate and explain the applications of the 2015 NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions; ASCE 7-16: Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures; and the material design standards referenced in both documents.

Seismic isolation is perhaps the most effective method available for protecting structures from earthquake damage. The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) 2015 NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions for Buildings and Other Structures contain updated requirements for the design and testing of seismic isolation systems and the design of isolated superstructures. The National Institute of Building Sciences Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC) will host a free webinar on the topic, “Seismic Isolation Design with the 2015 NEHRP Recommended Provisions,” Thursday, August 11, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm ET.

This is the fourth in a series of webinars sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that highlight the 2015 NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions.

The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) 2015 NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions for Buildings and Other Structures, as well as American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) ASCE/SEI 7-16, Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures, contain updated requirements to both the Response Spectrum Analysis (RSA) method and Linear Response History (LRH) analysis method. Highlighting these updates, the National Institute of Building Sciences Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC) will host a free webinar detailing “Response Spectrum Analysis/Linear Response History Analysis” on Wednesday, September 28, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm ET. Participants may earn one professional development hour (PDH).

The National Institute of Building Sciences Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC), developer of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) publication NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions for New Buildings and Other Structures for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), urges governmental members of the International Code Council (ICC) to support code changes that advance seismic safety in the nation’s buildings.