Informazioni sul corso

The 11th sustainable development goal (SDG) of the 2030 Agenda is ‘to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’. To date, sustainability targets applied to the built environment have mainly focused on trying to limit buildings carbon footprint, e.g. by reducing operational energy consumption, limiting waste generation, decarbonising the power supply, and addressing embodied carbon stored in construction materials, amongst others. Recently, however, the concept of sustainability has been broadened, to include also safety and resilience against natural hazards, such as e.g. earthquakes, which stand out as events that can produce extensive damage to buildings. Sustainable objectives now include thus also the minimisation of earthquake-induced economic and environmental impacts, as well as the increase of life safety (i.e. reduction of expected life losses, injuries, and homelessness).

This course will provide basic knowledge about seismic risk, with highlights on the influence that the latter may have on buildings’ environmental performance, due to earthquake-induced damage and consequent repair and retrofitting activities. Strategies and approaches to buildings retrofitting will also thus be discussed, within the context of this new concept of sustainability. The course program overall is hence aimed at improving awareness of seismic risk and life protection, and at broadening students’ perspective towards multi-disciplinary and integrated approaches aimed at sustainability. Six taught modules are envisaged:
1. Physical impact of earthquakes on buildings and infrastructure (2 hours)
2. Environmental impact of earthquakes (2 hours)
3. Economic and social impact of earthquakes (2 hours)
4. Sustainable strategies to reduce seismic risk and increase life safety (2 hours)
5. Sustainable approaches to increase building resilience (2 hours)
6. Demonstrative examples of sustainable seismic retrofitting of buildings (6 hours)