Building codes in the U.S. are at a crossroads. Until recently, we took the safety of our buildings for granted, confident that designs meeting code requirements would perform well. However, the collapse of 60% of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995 and destruction of the World Trade Center towers in 2001 shook that confidence, not only with the general public, but with engineers as well.
I propose a new path for building codesperformance design within a unified U.S. code. Instead of a one-size-fits-all' code mandate, performance design requirements can vary, based on the hazards being considered, the owner's risk tolerance and the user's need for building functionality after an event.