Seismic Retrofits For Architecture Of A Liberal Arts Institution . - Fema

SEISMIC RETROFITSFOR ARCHITECTURE OFA LIBERAL ARTS INSTITUTIONThe EvergreenState College,Washingtonwww.fema.gov

“Evergreen demonstrates a long-term, sustainedeffort to seismically retrofit its entire campus—inwhich Hazard Mitigation Planning and FEMA HMAgrants have played important roles. They leveragepast successes to maintain support for their currentand future projects. It’s that sustained commitmentto seismic mitigation work that is, to me, mostcompelling and instructive.”— Tim Cook, State Hazard Mitigation OfficerTHE EVERGREEN STATE COLLEGEOn February 28, 2001, a magnitude6.8 earthquake hit Olympia and TheEvergreen State College (Evergreen).This event, later named the Nisquallyearthquake, cracked walls in coreacademic buildings and the library,which required extensive epoxyinjections to re-stabilize their structuralintegrity. The earthquake shook booksoff their shelves, caused suspendedceiling tiles to fall, and broke awater line in the library. The campuscommunity felt this event as a callto action for public safety as itincreased their awareness of feelingvulnerable to the next event, whichthat may be worse.Evergreen campus officials had workedwith engineers in the 1990s to studythe potential impacts of a seismic eventand to evaluate weaknesses in campusinfrastructure, and the Nisquallyearthquake was the first event to testthose findings. Campus officials usedthis opportunity to ask, “What do weneed to do to become a more resilientcampus?” In answering this question,the original engineering studies informedsubsequent studies, planning processes,grant applications, and eventual seismicmitigation projects.have increased the campus’ resiliencyto future seismic events. The successof this project is directly related to thededication of a specific staff member,Robyn Herring, former EnvironmentalHealth and Safety Coordinator.The Evergreen State College developeda strategic, methodical process foridentifying seismic retrofit projects that1

Following the Nisqually earthquake, the former Evergreen EnvironmentalHealth and Safety Coordinator realized the need for a functional emergencyresponse plan and an Emergency Operations Center to ensure coordinatedcommunications during an earthquake response. The Environmental Healthand Safety Coordinator began searching for a better understanding ofseismic risks and opportunities to reduce those risks. For context, Evergreenfunctions like a small city by providing a variety of services to students, staff,and faculty while managing critical infrastructure that supports their ownbusiness, academic, and residential structures. Effective curriculum deliverydemands continuity of services. In order to achieve this, Evergreen needed tounderstand – and seek to reduce or eliminate – the long-term risk to peopleand property, by developing plans to mitigate the effects of natural hazardsidentified as causing the most harm to the community and its infrastructure.2“As a parent I’d want to be told my child will be taken care of andthat Evergreen took all measures necessary to mitigate the hazardsassociated with earthquakes. That reassurance is what we areaiming to provide for the parents of all Evergreen students.”— Matt Lebens, Environmental Health and Safety Coordinator3

Project Timeline:2001Nisqually Earthquake, WashingtonCAPITAL FUNDSLOCAL FUNDSFEMA FUNDS2003 Thurston County Multi-Jurisdictional HazardMitigation Plan: First VersionThe Evergreen State College Seismic Studies:2003 Structural & Nonstructural Focus42009Thurston County Multi-Jurisdictional HazardMitigation Plan: Update 12012Clock Tower Seismic Retrofit Completed2013Student Residence Hall ‘A’ SeismicRetrofit Completed2015The Really Big One, by Kathryn SchulzThe New Yorker2016Thurston County Multi-Jurisdictional HazardMitigation Plan: Update 22018Lab II Office Wing Seismic Retrofit Completed2018Central Utility Plant Seismic Retrofit (Ongoing)5

Concurrently, the college’sEnvironmental Health and SafetyCoordinator focused on seismicallyretrofitting buildings through existingplanned building renovations andthrough grant money for standalone projects. In addition, in 2003,Evergreen joined Thurston County inthe county’s first iteration of a multijurisdictional hazard mitigation plan(HMP). Each jurisdiction (city, county,or special district) participating inthe HMP planning process becomeseligible for FEMA Hazard MitigationAssistance (HMA) grant assistance,with FEMA-approval of the plan.Seeing itself as a small city forplanning purposes helped to framehow to assess risks, vulnerabilities,and mitigation actions. The countyreceived FEMA grant funding to writemost of the plan while Evergreenprovided in-kind support throughthe Environmental Health andSafety Coordinator’s engagementin the planning process and CapitalBudget funding to a two-phasedengineering study. This informationwas incorporated into the county’sHMP. The first phase of this study,The Evergreen State CollegeSeismic Study, written by ABSConsulting, focused on the potentialimpacts of earthquakes to campusstructures. The second phase ofthe study focused on vulnerabilitiesto nonstructural infrastructure,such as what would happen to thecommunications system followingan earthquake event. The hazardmitigation planning process providedan opportunity to strategically identify16 seismic retrofit projects thatwould have the most benefit to the6campus community. These projectswere prioritized by college officialsbased on Evergreen priorities andneeds at the time. As grant fundinghas become available throughFEMA Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM)grants and the Hazard MitigationGrant Program (HMGP), this list ofprioritized projects is still the mainreference for project ideas.Thurston County received fundingthrough FEMA’s Hazard MitigationGrant Program to write an HMP.Evergreen provided in-kind support.Capital Budget from Evergreen paid forthe engineering studies in the hazardassessment section of the HMP.“ We had the early 1990’s engineering study that highlightedthe financial challenges in making the needed seismicretrofits, but we didn’t have a clear path to getting theretrofits completed. The HMGP program allowed us topursue funding sources to correct seismic deficiencies thatwould have been nearly impossible to correct via traditionalstate capital budget requests.”— Robyn Herring, Former Environmental Health and Safety CoordinatorFollowing the College’s adoptionof the county’s HMP, the EvergreenEnvironmental Health and SafetyCoordinator immersed herself inFEMA grant requirements throughonline and in-person trainings andby reaching out to the State HazardMitigation Officer for support. Sheparticipated in FEMA Benefit-CostAnalysis (BCA) training, which provedcritical for the school’s successfulapplication. The training supportedher in analyzing the impacts tospecific buildings being damagedin an earthquake. For example, ifthe library was damaged, not onlywould books be impacted but facultyoffices, meeting spaces, and thecampus network and telephone,as well as campus businessoperations. All impacts contributedto a more accurate assessment ofvulnerability to earthquakes and amore comprehensive determinationof costs to inform a BCA. The7

Environmental Health and SafetyCoordinator dedicated substantialtime and focus to steps neededfor increasing overall resiliencyof the campus to earthquakes.She did this through seeking outtraining, learning nuances of grantrequirements, and developing arelationship with the State HazardMitigation Officer. This dedicationresulted in many successful andstrategic applications, all basedon the original prioritized list of 16projects. Leveraging HMA grantfunds, Evergreen is on the pathto having completed four retrofitprojects: Iconic Clock Tower (2012,HMGP), Student Residence Hall ‘A’(2013, HMGP), Lab II Office Wing(2018, PDM), and Central UtilityPlant (2018, HMGP).Through staff dedicated toparticipating in the HMPprocess, learning BCAsoftware, and being informedof grant requirements, thecollege was able to usenon-Capital budget fundingto strategically retrofit thehighest-risk and most criticalcampus assets.8As the former Environmental Healthand Safety Coordinator begandeveloping grant applications, theCollege’s Academic Grants Managerprovided advice: “People need tounderstand the need for the projecton an emotional and fiscal level.”Having someone on staff who ispassionate about increasingcampus safety and commits timeto exploring the layers of grantsrequirements is an essentialinvestment. This translates to nota single grant but rather getting apotential series of grants. RobynHerring, Former EnvironmentalHealth and Safety Coordinator.Interest in natural hazard mitigationcan wane after an event as lifereturns to pre-event state. While thishappened among campus officialsafter the Nisqually earthquake,processes like participating in ahazard mitigation planning teamhelped maintain momentum andawareness. In addition, a renewedsense of urgency developed inthe summer of 2015 as parentsof students called the collegeinquiring about their children’s safetyfollowing the publishing of The ReallyBig One article in The New Yorker.This concern reignited momentum toexplore creative ways of reaching thestudent body and ensuring publicsafety and continuity of schooloperations during and after anearthquake. As a result, the collegebegan integrating preparednessdrills and earthquake informationinto student orientations.Evergreen learned the importance ofoutreach and awareness by trial anderror with their retrofit projects. In thefirst phase of the first major campusretrofit project, part of the scopeincluded reinforcing a roof overhangby constructing additional exteriorshear walls. Prominent sycamoretrees needed to be moved toaccommodate the new shear walls.The public had not been involvedin the process which resulted inpushback. From this pushback,campus officials capitalized onpublic interest to conduct additionaloutreach and engagement around theproject and to educate on earthquakerisk and preparedness. By thesecond phase, a professor informedon the project status asked to painta mural on the outside of the newshear wall and lights were installedto illuminate the artwork.These projects were largelysuccessful because of the dedicationof one employee who devoted timeto learning FEMA BCA softwareand Federal grant managementrequirements, and to developingrelationships with State grantpartners who could provide technicalassistance and support to her projectapplications. The prioritized retrofitprojects stemmed from Evergreen’sparticipation in the Thurston CountyHMP and were informed by theengineering study from the early1990s. Ideas for future projects willbuild on this previous work, usingthe HMP, prioritization methodology,and fostered relationships withState experts as a template forsuccessful risk reduction. Eachproject contributes to increasing theCollege’s earthquake awarenessand resilience; necessary assets forcurrent students and for attractingfuture students.9