Decision making for effective infrastructure integration is challenging because the performance of long-lasting facilities is often difficult to foresee or well beyond the designer’s control. We propose a new approach for integrating the construction/retrofitting of two or more types of facilities. Infrastructure integration has many perceived benefits, but practitioners also express serious do...

Metal Plate Shear Walls (MPSWs) represent an effective, practical and economical system for the seismic protection of existing RC framed buildings. They consist of one or more metallic thin plates, bolted or welded to a stiff steel frame, which are installed in the bays of RC framed structures. A case study of an existing RC residential 5-storey building, designed between the ‘60s and ‘70s of t...

Upgrading existing buildings to meet current seismic design codes is important in high seismic hazard regions. Decision makers must choose from many possible retrofitting options, each with inherent advantages and disadvantages. The two main decision drivers that are commonly used are: increasing engineering performance (ductility, strength, etc.) and reducing cost. There is currently little in...

Unreinforced masonry (UM) is well known as a vulnerable structure against earthquakes. However, it remains popular structural system for low-rise residential housing in many high-seismicity areas, particularly developing regions due to its low cost and easy construction. In the present study, retrofitting strategy using locally available material, bamboo strips, was proposed. addition fast-grow...

Maintaining the functionality, productivity, and safety of communities necessitates the seismic reliability of lifeline infrastructure networks. However, assessing the reliability of an infrastructure network is a nontrivial task due to the variability of ground motion and the complexity of the response of the network resulting from that ground motion. Even more challenging is the task of ident...

One of the biggest obstacles to economic profitability of solar water heating systems is the investment cost. Retrofitting existing domestic hot water heaters when a new solar hot water system is installed can reduce both the installation and material costs. In this study, retrofitting existing water heaters for solar water heating systems in Swedish single-family houses was theoretically inves...

In times of recession, expert systems supporting environmental managers undergo a revival. However, the retrofitting of sustainable water structures is currently undertaken ad hoc using engineering experience supported by minimal formal guidance. There is a lack of practical decision tools that can be used by different professions for the rapid assessment of ecosystem services that can be creat...

Cross-bracing (X-bracing) is one of the most popular methods of seismic retrofitting, and has been shown to significantly increase the structural stiffness and strength of buildings. Conventional steel X-bracing methods typically exhibit brittle failure at the connection between the brace and the building, or buckling failure of the braces. This study investigated the structural properties of a...

Today many substations exist with a multitude of different communication systems and architectures. Extension and retrofitting of stations are natural opportunities to introduce the IEC61850. It can be that an extended part of a substation is equipped with the new standard and then need to be integrated into the older part that is based on presently available communications. When retrofitting a...

This paper assesses the impact of French policies for residential space-heating energy consumption, both enacted (tax credits for the purchase of energy efficient durables, soft loans for retrofitting actions, stringent building codes) and anticipated (carbon tax, retrofitting obligation). It uses a hybrid energy-economy model incorporating specific features of energy conservation, notably the ...