Performance-based engineering implies design, evaluation and construction of engineered facilities that meet, as economically as possible, the uncertain future demands that both owner-users and nature will put upon them. The premise is that performance levels and objectives can be quantified, that performance can be predicted analytically, and that the cost of improved performance can be evaluated, so that rational trade-offs can be made based on life-cycle considerations rather than construction costs alone.

Performance-based engineering is a maturing concept and a target area in the design and construction of engineered facilities. It offers great professional opportunities for producing better new facilities faster and more cost effectively. It forms the foundation for strategies on which to base the revitalization of our decaying infrastructure. It also presents challenges for the utilization of emerging technologies to monitor the health of existing facilities through sensor technology and to control performance through the use of active control systems and smart materials.

In the academic environment performance based engineering offers great opportunities for research and teaching of the processes involved in the design and construction of engineered systems whose performance can be quantified, and monitored and controlled in a manner that responds to the diverse needs and objectives of owners and society. Adoption of performance-based engineering concepts implies major changes in the thinking, practice and education of structural engineers. Perhaps most important is a shift away from the dependence on empirical and experience-based conventions, and towards a design and assessment process more firmly rooted in the realistic prediction of structural behavior under a realistic description of the spectrum of loading environments that the structure will experience in the future. This implies a shift towards a more scientifically oriented approach with an emphasis on accurate characterization and prediction. The role of the universities is to develop and teach sound procedures based on a much higher level of technology than employed in the past.

Performance-based engineering is the central theme of many of the research activities of Stanford's structural engineering and geomechanics program. Our students and faculty are involved in research on performance based design methodologies and on fundamental issues of stochastic modeling of loads and resistance, they do pioneering work in probabilistic loss modeling of structural and nonstructural building systems and transportation networks, explore emerging technologies for health monitoring and active control, and are at the forefront of developments of computational approaches needed to predict performance. The newly established Design/Construction Integration program provides extensive lateral support on constructibility issues and the performance of nonstructural systems.

Specific research activities that relate to performance-based engineering are summarized in the following sections. Much of our work focuses on earthquakes, but extensive research has also been performed on wind and ocean wave hazards, and a new effort has been initiated on performance-based fire engineering. The global objective of our work in these areas is to develop knowledge and tools for the assessment, management, and mitigation of the risks associated with these hazards.