ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT Current trends in structural design emphasizes on robust, resilient and sustainable design of buildings, and this is achieved by multiple design objectives that support target performance levels for the intended design concept. Recent innovations towards a sustainable design are performance-based design (PBD) and building life-cycle assessment (LCA). Structural engineering and design against seismic actions mainly focuses on the integrity of the structures assigning a life safety performance level (code-based design) or multiple performance levels for the structural systems and elements (PBD). The structure has the critical role of protecting the nonstructural systems and components from damage, therefore, recent development of performance-based seismic design aims to combine the performance levels between structural and nonstructural components. This type of combined assessment can significantly affect the life cycle assessment results of the building. In this paper, performance-based seismic design is carried out for RC building considering different hazard levels. The target performance levels are considered in terms of inter-story drift and acceleration levels of building floors. The repair cost of structural and nonstructural components in the life span of the building under a seismic hazard is examined with respect to the type of the lateral structural system and consequently its ductility level. It is concluded that the increase of ductility of the structural system affects the nonstructural repair cost and consequently the life cycle cost. It is also shown that the ratio of the repair cost for nonstructural components to the total repair cost depends on the type of the lateral structural system and the type of nonstructural components, i.e. displacement-sensitive or acceleration-sensitive. Therefore, an essential criterion for running a performance-based seismic design is not only to consider the performance of nonstructural components but balancing their controlling EDP values at the different floors for a better sustainable design and assessment of building's life cycle.
