MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub
Resilience

Resilience

Resilience

The risk of hazards like natural disasters and extreme heat is underestimated. Stronger construction to mitigate it is undervalued.

MIT CSHub studies how cities can be made more resilient to hazards through investment in stronger, cooler construction.

Our research integrates neighborhood texture, the density and configuration of buildings in an area, into hazard risk and loss analysis to reveal the value of stronger construction, identify areas and groups most at financial risk, and understand the greenhouse gas emissions of less strong construction. Additionally, our investigation of cool pavements has shown how they cool cities and the climate.

Infrastructure damage caused by natural hazards in the U.S. exceeds $50 billion annually, with losses from earthquakes, hurricanes, and fire averaging around $6 billion, $28 billion, and $15 billion, respectively. And, moreover, these costs are trending upward.


CSHub Research Brief: “Molecular Dynamics-based Resilience Assessment of Structures”

Ongoing Projects

To provide a comprehensive picture of the economic vulnerability of structures in a specific community when subject to different hazards, CSHub focuses on the vulnerability assessment of buildings considering the neighborhood texture-driven pressure amplification and related costs of repair and recovery. The outcome of this research will serve the community as a tool to quantify and visualize the vulnerability of their neighborhood considering the construction method and local climate conditions.

In this project, inspired by molecular modeling and based on the structure types and components for several hazards, building-specific fragility curves will be developed. In addition to the variety of hazards, the performance of building components such as windows, siding, doors, and roofs will be added to the modeling portfolio through a combination of analysis and validation data. The result outputs will demonstrate how the fragility curves can enable a performance-based approach to resilience rating systems. The outcome of this research will be used in conjunction with other hazard resistance tools and life cycle economic and environmental analysis tools in support of performance-based resilience ratings.

In order to forecast fluvial and pluvial flooding risks, CSHub will develop a framework that incorporates above-ground city textures while detecting the flow of flooding on the surface. The outcome of this project is targeted to support rapid assessments of current infrastructure to the risks of climate variability, and climate change, as well as urban and suburban land use change. The tool will also be beneficial to agencies that are currently assessing the cost of climate change adaptation on urban infrastructure.

Application Areas

Albedo is a measure of a surface’s reflectivity — surfaces with low albedo reflect less light than do surfaces with high albedo. This has several implications for combatting phenomena such as the urban heat island effect. “Cool pavements,” those high in albedo, reflect more sunlight into the atmosphere, increasing ambient temperatures less than dark pavements.

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The Alkali-Silica Reaction (ASR) causes expansion and cracking in concrete. This can result in structural problems in concrete infrastructure that can limit the infrastructure’s service life and also generate high maintenance costs. CSHub research seeks to better understand the reaction and its mechanisms, which is key to determining solutions that will prolong the life of concrete infrastructure.

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The CSHub has long investigated multifunctional concrete, and has uncovered a way to store energy in a mixture of carbon black, cement, and water. The technology has potential applications towards bulk energy storage, on-road EV charging, self-heating pavements, energy-autarkic structures, and more.

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Creep, the gradual structural deformation in concrete under a load, it is known to impact on the durability of concrete structures. CSHub researchers are working to better understand what causes creep starting at the nanoscale.

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Flooding is both one of the most frequent and one of the most devastating natural disasters. A majority of cities analyzed in a UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs report were found to be highly vulnerable to flood-related mortality (76%) and/or economic losses (72%). Even cities with low levels of flood exposure must take the hazard seriously: 26.5% of cities studied had low flood exposure but high flood-related mortality risk, 24.0% of cities studied had low flood exposure yet high flood-related economic risk. The CSHub is investigating novel flood modeling methodologies to better capture risk to urban areas.


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In hazard-prone areas, hazard-induced maintenance costs can be significant over the lifetime of a building. In fact, the costs of hazard-related repairs can exceed the initial building cost. Our team has developed a building life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) approach that incorporates operational costs associated with energy consumption and repairs due to damage from hazards. Our case studies have demonstrated that investing in more hazard-resistant residential construction in certain locations is very cost-effective.

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Life cycle assessment (LCA) considers all life-cycle phases from initial construction to demolition. For pavements, this includes the operation, maintenance, and end of life phases, and factors such as traffic delay, lighting demand, and future maintenance. CSHub models quantify environmental impacts across a pavement’s life cycle from manufacturing to disposal and offer detailed analyses of the use phase.

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A life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) is an analysis methodology that enables engineers, designers, and decision-makers to better understand the economic impacts of infrastructure decisions over time along with the opportunities that exist to reduce impacts. CSHub pavements LCCA research considers life cycle, context, and future, and also incorporates risk.

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