Authors: Luke Allen, Andrew Charleson, Svetlana Brzev, and Charles Scawthorn
This online Glossary explains around 400 terms contained in the GEM Building Taxonomy v 2.0 and nearly 700 images.
The terms have been listed in alphabetical and numerical order. Text description of each term is accompanied by illustrations (photos and/or drawings) where possible.
We welcome contributions in the form of photographs or images, illustrating glossary terms. If you have any questions you can also contact us at buildingtaxonomy@globalquakemodel.org
Recording the number of storeys above ground as a range can be used to reflect either the surveyor’s lack of certainty for a single building, or when height ranges are used in regional surveys.
HBET:a,b
where a=upper bound and b= lower bound for the range
Example: HBET:3,1 (height range from 1 to 3 storeys)
Height of buildings within this block in Lisbon, Portugal ranges from 4 to 5 storeys (S. Brzev)