Tag: Seismic

Explore a New Option for Making Buildings More Resilient

CPACE for Seismic Strengthening logo

On July 28, CREW will present a webinar at which a panel of experts will explain how Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (CPACE) financing can be used to pay for retrofit and construction projects that improve the seismic resilience of commercial buildings.

This seismic application of CPACE is available in a growing number of jurisdictions across the country. The webinar is an opportunity to learn more about how it works, how CPACE programs are started, and when and where seismic strengthening projects are eligible.

CREW has also produced a short CPACE for Seismic Strengthening primer, which offers a general overview of the topic, outlines a few of the benefits, incentives, and issues involved, and lists additional information and resources by state (western U.S.).

Check out the primer and bring your questions to the webinar on July 28!

Register now
Learn more

A New Experiment Transforms Optic Cables into Seismographs

Blue fibers ending in points of light.

Lori Dengler, emeritus professor of geology at Cal Poly Humboldt, recently reported on an experiment that has temporarily turned a section of underground optic cable between Arcata and Eureka, California, into a seismic experiment.

The cable, which is part of a local broadband improvement project, is offline until the rest of the system is completed. While the cable is dark, researchers have attached to it a Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) instrument. This uses the cable as a conduit for a rapid series of laser pulses that in effect allow it to function like a string of seismographs. Deployed alongside the cable are broadband seismographs and geophones that will help researchers understand how to interpret the data that they collect from the DAS instrument. The results of this experiment could help pave the way toward one day using trans-Pacific optic cables to help detect and study seismic activity.

Learn more: Read Lori Dengler’s column in the Times Standard.

Read more about how the experiment came into being: Running a seismic experiment requires a public-private partnership.