Design Wind CRIP
Civil & Environmental Engineering Research @ Princeton
Developing a A Dynamic Web-Based Tool for Determining Climate-Resilient Design Wind Speeds
This project was conducted as part of the Laboratory Learning Program at Princeton University. I worked in Professor Ning Lin’s Hurricane Hazards and Risk Analysis Lab in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Huge thanks to my mentor, Christine Blackshaw!
Across the United States, design wind speeds for buildings are governed by the ASCE 7 standards. Tropical cyclones (TCs), causing extreme winds along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, determine how these wind speeds are calculated for much of the coastal United States. The intensification of tropical cyclones due to climate change is estimated to cause alarming increases in wind speeds, posing significant risks to infrastructure. However, current ASCE 7 guidelines fail to account for these evolving conditions.
Background
All ASCE 7 standards, including the latest ASCE 7-22 and ASCE 7-16, rely on historical data and assume a stationary climate, meaning they do not account for the increased likelihood of stronger winds due to climate change. This outdated approach may lead to insufficient safety margins, compromising the resilience of both new and existing infrastructure.
Problem
Design Wind CRIP (Climate Resilient Interface by Princeton), a novel web-based tool designed to dynamically calculate climate-resilient design wind speeds by incorporating non-stationary climate data. Using synthetic TC data from CMIP6 under the SSP5-8.5 high-emissions scenario, Design Wind CRIP offers on-the-fly, county-specific calculations for various building risk categories, construction years, and lifespans.
Solution