Risk Perception in Performance-Based Building Design and Applications to Terrorism-Resistant Design

Abstract

As buildings have become larger and house more people, political and societal issues have become more complex, and risks associated with occupying buildings have changed. In particular, since the terrorist attacks of 2001, the anxiety levels and perceived risks of building occupants (especially occupants of tall, high-profile buildings) have increased. These perceived risks include risks of terrorist attacks, natural disasters, the possibility of bomb threats, and catastrophic fires. The public’s perception of risk is already incorporated into building design codes and performance-based design (PBD) methods for such hazards as earthquakes and fires—explicitly in some cases, implicitly in others. Risk perception will clearly need to be addressed in the design of buildings, as trade-offs in “acceptable” risk versus cost must be made. As terrorism represents a constantly changing design challenge, and is a target-specific hazard, as opposed to a location-specific hazard, it seems unlikely that prescriptive code requirements will be entirely effective at addressing this hazard. PBD codes are a promising approach for design issues that deal with such “cutting-edge” concepts.