Comparative

Criterion
Basis of Wind
Load Data

UBC 97

From fastest mile

wind speeds since
1988

IBC 09

Derived from three

second gusts wind
speed reflected from
current data
Also, topographical
effects and torsional
Loading effect are being
considered.

Importance
factors

Larger values for wind

hazard IP factor

Larger value for seismic

hazard IP factor

Design Ground
Motion
Parameters

Uses factors such as

Acceleration-Related
Near Source Factor,
Na; and, VelocityRelated Near Source
Factor, Nv
Earthquake
acceleration is
judged by how
proximate the site is
to the seismic source

Uses factors such as

Maximum Considered
Earthquake Spectral
Response Accelerations
for One-second Period
(S1) and for Short Period
(Ss)
Earthquake acceleration
is judged by how much
it can peak due to insitu soil conditions.

Life-Safety

Life Safety to CollapsePrevention

Inter story drift limits

focuses on the time
period of a certain
structure

Inter story drift limits

focuses on the
occupancy category of a
certain structure

Seismic Design
Philosophies

Serviceability
Requirements
from Lateral
Load Effects

As the structural engineering field advances, the Code-Based Design becomes an

enclosed box:

It becomes a resource only to provide minimum acceptable consensus

standards
o Penalized 25 percent back-up frame requirement
o Prescribed but deemed unnecessary ductility requirement
o Customary usage of exaggerated static wind loads
o Under usage of Site-Specific seismic ground parameters

o Height Limits
It does not provide guidance on the selection of materials and systems,
rather only criteria for their use once selected.
It does not provide the designer with the difference in performance
between systems.
It does not discuss that the use of some structural systems will result in more
nonstructural damage than others

Not until the structural engineers started to think out of the box and formulated PBD
P-erformance
B-ased
D-esign

PBD Out-of-the-box Principles

PBD develops a consensus set of performance objectives of a building

when subjected to an earthquake hazard of a defined intensity.
The design accounts to four significant building performance:
o Safety before, during and after earthquake = Less Casualty for a
longer period
o Cost and Feasibility to restore pre-earthquake conditions
o Length of time to conduct repairs
o Economic, Architectural or Historic Impact to community, at large

PBD provides performance level not only for structural members but also for
non-structural components of the building