The National Institute of Building Sciences Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC) will host a webinar Tuesday, September 15, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm EDT, to bolster the importance of new additions to the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program’s (NEHRP) NEHRP Recommended Seismic Provisions for New Buildings and Other Structures that more accurately address the appropriate design for building diaphragms.

A new web-based tool can help security professionals for commercial office buildings perform assessments based on the Best Practices for Anti-Terrorism Security (BPATS) for commercial office buildings. With best practices developed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), in partnership with the National Institute of Building Sciences (Institute), building owners seeking protections under the Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies (SAFETY) Act can use the tool when developing their application packages.

Images of smoky, apocalyptic skylines from the West Coast have flooded social media feeds and news headlines in recent days.

One fire – the CZU Lightning Complex Fire – was started by lightning strikes in the middle of August. Many California residents in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties frantically worked to clear brush and spray down their homes as the fires approached, before being evacuated by local law enforcement. It has taken 28 days to reach 89 percent containment with this single wildfire event.