Human perception and tolerance of wind-induced building motion

![CDATA[The growing population and the diversification of global economical and financial influences have generated unprecedented demands for office and residential high-rise developments in Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and other emerging economies in the past decade. A surge in the number of tall and super-tall buildings constructed to meet these demands, some reaching 1000 m or more in height, has challenged the ingenuity of the architectural and engineering professions. Not only are buildings designed for strength and safety against wind, earthquake and other environmental loads, the dynamic responses of these wind-sensitive buildings inevitably challenge the understanding of subjective human response to building motion, and pose critical serviceability consideration in terms of occupant comfort, particularly in regions with strong prevailing winds. Perceptible building motion not only causes fear and alarm amongst some building occupants, prolonged and/or frequent exposure to building vibration can cause discomfort and may degrade cognitive and task performance, and in extreme cases, affect the well-being of occupants by triggering headaches, fatigue, dizziness and even nausea, particularly amongst those occupants who are susceptible to motion sickness. This paper summaries the current understanding of human perception of building motion and theories on motion sickness. The results of a study on occupant comfort using a tall building motion simulator are presented. The outline of a longitudinal study of occupant comfort and workplace productivity is also presented.]]