The Economics of Seismic Isolation in Buildings

Abstract Seismic isolation is a design technique that offers significant benefits in appropriate applications, and interest in its application continues to grow. The two key issues that must be addressed early in the design phase of a project are the technical and economic feasibility issues. This paper focuses on the economic issues, and discusses the four principal cost factors that should be evaluated. These being construction costs, earthquake insurance premiums, physical damage that must be repaired and disruption costs, loss of market share and potential liability. The paper includes a summary of first cost studies on both new and existing buildings. It also discusses methods of estimating the difference in the cost of earthquake damage using different construction techniques.