Working Commission 114
Earthquake Engineering and Buildings

1. Introduction

As one of the working commissions in CIB (International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction), W114: Earthquake Engineering and Buildings has been established since November 2006 to promote communication among researchers and engineers to make a harmonized design guideline for sustainable buildings against earthquakes.

The first three years activities of the CIB/W114 put focus on buildings with response control devices such as rubber bearings, viscous (oil) dampers, etc. This commission discusses the issues related to disseminating response control technique worldwide including developing countries which have problem of earthquake disasters. The commission plans to organize symposiums and publish reports to share experience and research outputs.

2. Invitation to W114/CIB

1. Objectives / Scope

The CIB/W114 was established succeeding to the activity of the CIB/TG44 (Performance Evaluation of Buildings with Response Control Devices, coordinated by Dr. Shin Okamoto and Dr. Hui Li). In September 2006, the CIB/TG44 published the book entitled, "Response control and seismic isolation of buildings". This book summarized the state of the art of worldwide practice of response control and seismic isolation of buildings in China, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan and the United States of America. As described in this book, response control devices, such as rubber bearings, viscous (oil) dampers, etc. have been widely used for buildings around the world. Response control devices are more and more necessary for the construction of sustainable buildings against earthquakes. On the other hand, this book has revealed the fact that each region has its own design concept and practices of response control technique. It makes difficult for researchers and engineers to understand and compare the performance of response control buildings in different regions.

The CIB/W114 was established aiming to promote communication among researchers and engineers to make a harmonized design guideline for sustainable buildings against earthquake, of which owner can set the target performance of the buildings not only to the allowable damages which prevent collapse of buildings, but also to fully operational condition even after being subjected to the severe external design earthquake loads that may occur just one time or less during their service life.

The first three years activities of the CIB/W114 put focus on buildings with response control devices. Also this WC discusses the issues related to disseminating response control technique worldwide including developing countries which have problem of earthquake disasters. The WC plans to organize symposiums and publish reports, guidebooks or video materials to disseminate response control techniques.

We hereby invite you to become a member of CIB/W114 and exchange information among engineers worldwide. We are waiting any kind of suggestion on activities of W114

2. About CIB

CIB is the international association providing a global network for international exchange and cooperation in research and innovation in building and construction. CIB supports improvements in building processes and in the performance of the built environment.

The CIB Program covers technical, economic, environmental, organizational and other aspects of the built environment during all stages of its life cycle. CIB addresses all steps in the process of basic and applied research, documentation and transfer of research results, and the implementation and actual application of them in practice.

CIB members are organizations and individuals active in the research community, industry, government and education who nominate experts to participate in network of over fifty Scientific Commissions. Through these, over 5000 experts worldwide from about 500 organizations exchange the latest information, initiate collective R&D projects, organize workshops, seminars, symposia and conferences and publish proceedings, technical analysis, state of the art reports and practice recommendations.

Web site at: http://www.cibworld.nl

3. Action Plan

The first CIB/W114 meeting, "International Workshop on Response Control and Seismic Isolation of Buildings," was held in Guangzhou, China on 27 November 2006. More than forty scholars from China and Japan are invited to exchange information on the latest developments of isolating system. Participants of the Workshop agree to conclude an action plan as stated below to conduct collaborative research and development activities on the research of response control and seismic isolation techniques for buildings and structures.

1. Development of international structural design guidelines for 1) structural design, 2) construction, 3) device and testing, 4) maintenance, of response controlled and seismically isolated buildings, harmonizing existing guidelines such as ISO22762,
2. Comparison of existing structural design codes of seismically isolated buildings in different countries using a benchmark building,
3. Development of performance based structural design method including cost evaluation such as evaluation of life-cycle cost, direct and indirect cost,
4. Researches on new material and new devices to improve seismic performance of response controlled and seismically isolated buildings,
5. Development of low-cost devices in order to apply response control and seismic isolation techniques to rural area and developing countries,
6. Exchange of personnel such as researcher and engineers to promote research and development of response control and seismic isolation techniques for buildings,
7. Exploring possibilities for the shaking table test to verify the ultimate behavior of seismically isolated building,
8. Exploring possibilities to develop a compression test machine for large size isolators,
9. Organizing workshops and other events to share experiences, research outputs,
10. Development of dissemination and education tools to popularize response control and seismic isolation techniques for buildings,
11. Launch of W114 web site to exchange technical information, reports and publications,
12. Development of information database on the W114 web site collecting building codes, building applications and devices from countries worldwide.

4. Output

5. Coordinator

Dr. Taiki Saito
Chief Researcher,
International Institute of Seismology and Earthquake Engineering
Building Research Institute, Japan
Address: 1 Tatehara, Tsukuba 305-0802, Japan
E-mail: tsaito@kenken.go.jp

6. Meetings

27 November 2006: The first CIB/W114 meeting, "International Workshop on Response Control and Seismic Isolation of Buildings," was held in Guangzhou, China,

7. Membership

Currently anyone who has similar interest with CIB/W114 is welcomed to be a member, thus no membership fee is required.
Based on the regulation of CIB, the member of W114 is encouraged to become a member of CIB as much as possible.

8. Privilege

All information concerning the activities of CIB/W114 will be sent via E-mail.

9. How to become a member of CIB/W114

Fill in the attached application form and send back to following address either by mail, E-mail or fax:

Japan Society of Seismic Isolation
JIA Building 2FL
2-3-18, Jingumae, Shibuya-ku,
Tokyo, Japan
Tel: +81-3-5775-5432
Fax: +81-3-5775-5434
E-mail:

10. For more information on CIB

Look up at web site at: http://www.cibworld.nl/

CIB/W114 membership application form
application form download (PDF:11KB)