Investigating the impact of design criteria on the expected seismic losses of multi-storey office buildings

The Ministry of Building, Innovation and Employment is developing advice on how to deliver Low Damage Seismic Design (LDSD) protection for buildings through their Tū Kahika: Building Resilience platform. draft LDSD considering a design drift limit multi-storey 0.5% as part new damage control state checks. potential impact this criterion the expected annual loss due repair costs investigated generic reinforced concrete wall case-study office 4- 12-storeys in both Wellington Christchurch. equivalent static method, line with NZS 1170.5 3101, was used conventional specifications, representing current future state-of-practice designs. aims complying below 0.1% building replacement cost. This research tested expectation. Losses were estimated accordance FEMA P-58, using responses from non-linear time history analyses. Although it found that alone may not seismic losses target values owing acceleration-sensitive elements, results do support intentions significantly reduce buildings. study also highlighted importance an accurate approximation RC stiffness LDSD, provides insight into different strategies could be followed effectively LDSD.