The prestigious Buildings 2022 Best Paper Award has been awarded to “Experimental Seismic Assessment of Nonstructural Elements: Testing Protocols and Novel Perspectives” by Martino Zito, Roberto Nascimbene, Paolo Dubini, Danilo D’Angela, and Gennaro Magliulo. This groundbreaking paper published in Buildings discusses nonstructural elements (NEs), often associated with significant seismic risk, particularly in critical facilities like hospitals and industrial plants.
The paper reviews and evaluates major international testing approaches and protocols for the seismic assessment of NEs using experimental methods, offering new perspectives and a unified approach for their assessment and qualification. The advanced technical recommendations aim to establish a more robust and standardised testing and qualification framework, potentially marking a significant step towards developing code and regulation criteria for the experimental seismic assessment and qualification of NEs.