Performance of Tall Buildings in Urban Zones: Lessons Learned from a Decade of Full-Scale Monitoring

The lack of systematic validation for the design process supporting tall buildings motivated the authors' research groups and their collaborators to found the Chicago Full-Scale Monitoring Program over a decade ago. This project has allowed the sustained in-situ observation of a collection of tall buildings now spanning worldwide. This paper overviews this program and the lessons learned in the process, ranging from appropriate technologies for response measurements to the factors influencing accurate prediction of dynamic properties all the way to how these properties then influence the prediction of response using wind tunnel testing and whether this response does indeed correlate with in-situ observations. Through this paper, these wide ranging subjects are addressed in a manner that demonstrates the importance of continued promotion and expansion of full-scale monitoring efforts and the ways in which these programs can provide true value-added to building owners and managers.