Browsing Reports and Research Briefs by Title
Now showing items 22-41 of 42
-
Research Brief: Generating Building-specific Fragility Curves
(2019-05)Fragility curves represent a structure’s likelihood of damage under a range of load levels—like those from natural hazards. They, therefore, help to set building code safety factors, resiliency ratings, and even insurance ... -
Research Brief: Generating Component-level Building-specific Fragility Curves
(2020-11)One of the most essential tools for representing the vulnerability of a structure is the fragility curve. By capturing the probability of damage at a given load level, fragility curves provide a way to express how a ... -
Research Brief: Implications of energy code evolution on energy performance of multi-family residential buildings in the US
(2018-03)The International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), which is created by the International Code Council (ICC), standardizes expectations for the design and construction of buildings with regards to energy use and conservation ... -
Research Brief: Improving Pavement Network Conditions Through Competition
(2020-10)Past CSHub research has shown that increased competition among paving material substitutes is correlated with lower unit prices for both asphalt and concrete. Thus, there is potential for increased competition to increase ... -
Research Brief: Influence of Treatment Types on Performance-based Planning
(2019-08)U.S. departments of transportation (DOTs) currently face significant budget shortages: According to the ASCE 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, the backlog of repairs for existing highways is $420 billion. To optimize DOT ... -
Research Brief: Investigating the Mechanisms of ASR Using Atomistic Methods
(2020-05)With 20% of highway pavements in the U.S. in poor condition, mitigating pavement failure has become increasingly important. However, the mechanisms of the alkali-silica-reaction (ASR), a leading cause of damage in concrete ... -
Research Brief: Meeting Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets in the Building Sector
(2019-07)As the threat of climate change grows, lowering the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of high emitting sectors of the economy has become critical. The buildings sector is particularly significant, consuming up to 40% of total ... -
Research Brief: Minimizing Thermal Cracks in Concrete Pavements
(2017-01-12)This brief examines the risk of fracture of concrete pavements due to thermal cycles. CSHub researchers model the risk of fracture due to temperature changes and propose a method for estimating the risk of thermal cracking ... -
Research Brief: Mitigation Solutions for GHG Emissions in New Construction
(2020-09)By 2050, the United States is projected to add 121 billion ft2 of buildings—equivalent to constructing New York City every year for the next 20 years. However, to meet climate change goals the U.S. building sector must ... -
Research Brief: Modeling the Freeze-Thaw Damage Mechanism in Cement
(2019-01)Freeze-thaw (FT) damage is a significant threat to roads and pavement, yet the underlying mechanism is still unclear. Conventional thinking attributes the damage to pressure generated by expansion of water upon freezing. ... -
Research Brief: Molecular Dynamics-based Resilience Assessment of Structures
(2020-07)According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), losses due to fire in structures in America amount to around $13 billion annually. Despite these severe economic consequences, building codes often don’t ... -
Research Brief: Optimizing Building Life Cycle Environmental Impact and Cost
(2020-02)Existing building life cycle assessment tools rely on detailed building models that make it difficult to explore the environmental implications of design strategies in the earliest design phases. Most of these tools are ... -
Research Brief: Prioritizing Resilient Retrofits
(2018-02)2017 was one of the most devastating U.S. hurricane seasons ever recorded. State Departments of Public Safety across the country list tens of thousands of destroyed homes and hundreds of thousands more damaged. Although ... -
Research Brief: Quantifying the impact of pavement reflectivity on radiative forcing and building energy demand in neighborhoods
(2017-03-13)Albedo is the measure of the fraction of solar energy reflected by the Earth’s surface. High-albedo surfaces, which are lighter in color, absorb less sunlight energy and reflect more shortwave radiation. The change in ... -
Research Brief: Simulating the Formation of ASR Gels
(2019-04)Alkali-silica-reaction (ASR) is a significant cause of premature concrete deterioration. Although it has received much research attention, an essential question still remains—how does a soft gel, as is formed by this ... -
Research Brief: The Influence of Incorporating Uncertainties and Treatment Path Dependence in Performance-based Planning Analyses
(2018-11)According to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, the backlog for repair of existing highways across the U.S. totals approximately $420 million. With funding at all-time lows, it ... -
Research Brief: The Role of Pavements in Meeting GHG Reduction Targets
(2019-08)To meet the targets for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions set by cities and states, several solutions have been proposed including renewable energy production, subsidies for electric vehicles, and carbon taxes. ... -
Research Brief: Validation of Molecular Dynamics-Based Structural Damage
(2019-03)Windstorms currently generate $28 billion in average annual damage and this figure is projected to potentially rise to $38 billion by 2075. Traditional engineering approaches that analyze the resilience of structures fail ... -
A Scientific Investigation into Concrete Pavement Durability
(MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub, Oregon State University, University of New Brunswick, 2021-01)Although concrete pavements offer many long-term performance benefits, there are still instances where premature degradation of pavements leads to unexpected and costly repairs. In addition to being a burden to transportation ... -
Supplementary Information for Comparative Pavement Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Cost Analysis
(MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub, 2014-07)The MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub) is conducting life cycle environmental and cost analyses of pavements under a wide range of contexts. The analyses involve the comparison of new asphalt concrete (AC) and portland ...
