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4.3 Building Data <br /> <br /> The total building area of 162,385 square feet consists of 74,777 square feet on <br /> the upper (office) level and 87,608 square feet on the lower (parking and fire <br /> station level). <br /> <br /> Building replacement value of $27,774,330 was estimated from the 1995 <br /> engineering estimate made by Dames & Moore as part of an earlier seismic <br /> vulnerability study, adjusted to 2004 values using FEMA's Inflation Adjuster. <br /> Using the Inflation Adjuster, with recent federal data on inflation rates for the past <br /> several years, yields an adjustment factor between 1995 and 2004 of 1.227. <br /> <br /> The building demolition damage percentage was estimated to be 40% of building <br /> replacement value. The default FEMA value is 50%. However, the FEMA <br /> guidance in the User's Manual (FEMA, October 25, 1995) for the Full Data <br /> Module for Benefit-Cost Analysis of Seismic Hazard Mitigation Projects notes <br /> that: "For older, somewhat substandard buildings, the demolition threshold may <br /> be quite Iow (e.g., 20% to 30%). Earlier studies of the building (Dames and <br /> Moore, 1995) assumed a 25% demolition percentage. <br /> <br /> Therefore, using a 40% threshold is conservative and fully consistent with FEMA <br /> guidance. The building is 40-years old and has significant functional deficiencies <br />---- as well as substantial seismic deficiencies. Therefore, using a demolition <br />' percentage less than 50% appears fully justified. <br /> <br /> 4.4 Building Seismic Damage Functions <br /> <br /> The vulnerability of the existing building to seismic damage is expressed <br /> mathematically by fragility curves. Fragility curves incorporate the engineering <br /> analyses of the building and express the vulnerability as the probability that a <br /> building will be in each of several defined damage states at any level of ground <br /> shaking. Fragility curves include "A" values (acceleration as a fraction of g) <br /> which are the level of shaking at which there is 50% chance of the building being <br /> in the defined damage state or higher. Fragility curves also include "beta" values <br /> which are Iognormal dispersion (standard deviation) parameters reflecting the <br /> uncertainty and randomness. <br /> <br /> Fragility curves in Chapter 5 of the Technical Appendix (Table 5-3) were input <br /> into the FEMA Fragility Curve Calculator to calculate seismic damage functions <br /> (percent damage for various bins of PGA) in the format used in the FEMA Full <br /> Data Module for Benefit-Cost Analysis of Seismic Hazard Mitigation Projects. <br /> <br /> 8 <br /> <br /> <br />