A Conference on Architectural Suretỷ
	Assuring the Performance of Buildings and Infrastructures
	PROCEEDINGS

Foreword

The new and emerging threats to the aging infrastructure faced by today’s engineering design and building management community demand solutions that are both innovative and more risk management based in approach. There is a growing awareness of public vulnerability in the wake of bomb attacks at the World Trade Center, Oklahoma City Federal Building, and at the DOD facilities in Saudi Arabia; global civil and ethnic unrest; criminal and political terrorism; recent natural disasters; and other indicators of a rapidly transforming social world. This awareness leads to increased expectations by the public for appropriate action and greater responsibilities for the design, engineering, and construction professionals. In addition, the destruction that follows natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and earthquakes underscores the need for enhanced building and infrastructure safety, security, and reliability to protect the public from potential injuries, death, and heavy property losses.

Many federal and non-federal organizations are frequently faced with high consequence situations with unwanted effects due to accidents, natural catastrophes, or malevolent human actions that can cause severe disasters. In order to improve interaction among these organizations and to build on the existing broad technical experience base, an International Conference on Architectural Surety for Assuring the Performance of Buildings and Infrastructures was held on May 14-15, 1997, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The conference was co-sponsored by the Architectural Engineering Division of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Institute of Architects, and Sandia National Laboratories. The conference provided a forum for exchanging ideas and information on technical issues and capabilities that relate to the Architectural Surety needs of national security objectives.

Numerous technical experts from government, industry, and academia were invited to present information on current national concerns, disaster mitigation issues, state-of-the-art tools and capabilities, design and construction standards, and implementation plans and practices. The conference included a plenary session and two parallel breakout sessions that permitted presentations and discussions on topics concerning national requirements, threats, analysis and risk management techniques, and engineering and construction issues.

These conference proceedings are organized into nine sections that correspond with the conference program. The papers submitted for these proceedings have not been reviewed or edited by the conference sponsors; the approaches and views contained therein represent those of the individual authors, and not necessarily those of Sandia National Laboratories or other sponsors. The conference sponsors appreciate the significant contributions made by the presenters and participants and wish to commend the authors for the effort so clearly reflected in the content of the papers contained in these proceedings.

Rudy Matalucci		Sponsored by Sandia National Laboratories    THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS
Sandia National Laboratories
P.O. Box 5800
MS 0762
Albuquerque, NM 87185-0762
Phone: 505-844-8804
Fax: 505-844-2193
Email: Rudy Matalucci

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1997 Conference Contents