The Key Role of Floors for the Sustainability of Retrofit Interventions in Older Existing Reinforced Concrete Buildings

Marco Vona (), Angelo Anelli, Francesco Paolo Del Giudice and Benedetto Manganelli
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Marco Vona: School of Engineering, University of Basilicata, Ateneo Lucano Avenue 10, 85100 Potenza, Italy
Angelo Anelli: Italian National Research Council—IGAG, 00010 Rome, Italy
Francesco Paolo Del Giudice: Department of Architecture and Design, University of Rome “Sapienza”, Borghese Sq. 9, 00186 Rome, Italy
Benedetto Manganelli: School of Engineering, University of Basilicata, Ateneo Lucano Avenue 10, 85100 Potenza, Italy

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 14, 1-18

Abstract: In recent decades, the seismic performance of existing reinforced concrete (RC) buildings has played a key role. Nevertheless, the performance and reliability verification of important structural elements such as floors has often been neglected. Floors are primary structural elements that can affect the life cycle life of a building. However, the widespread lack of maintenance planning over time and the original construction practice (which was not always correct) are frequently the cause of unpredictable local or global collapse. In addition, although recent standards and codes recognize the importance of floors by prioritizing their verification with respect to gravitational load conditions, the verification of floor reliability with respect to the load combinations required by modern standards and codes is often not satisfied. Consequently, the intervention costs could be significantly affected by the floor conditions, and their overall amount might even discourage the implementation of interventions. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects (in terms of sustainability) of interventions on residential RC buildings, considering the need to retrofit their existing floors. To this aim, the most vulnerable and potentially most degraded floor types are identified, and their capacity–demand relationships are evaluated. In the case of unverified floors, the main and most popular intervention methods are evaluated and related to the overall intervention costs, taking into account the main uncertainties in performance and cost predictions. The problems and critical issues of floors are key in determining the safety of the building and the cost-effectiveness (i.e., sustainability) of the retrofit intervention. Professionals and decision makers could benefit from the proposed study cost model to define intervention strategies on a regional or national scale.

Keywords: seismic risk analysis; existing buildings; cost–benefit analysis; sustainability of retrofitting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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