Prescient receives ICC certification for seismic resilience system

Prescient, a digital design-build company focused on modular multi-unit housing, has received certification from the International Code Council Evaluation Service (ICC-ES) for its Prescient Seismic System.

“With this certification, Prescient is now able to provide its unique, economical and environmentally friendly solution to developers building in U.S. seismic zones,” according to a Prescient news release. The technology is suitable for buildings up to 12 stories in earthquake-prone areas around the world.

More than 950 physical tests and over 80,000 analytical simulations of response to earthquake ground shaking were performed. “The work demonstrated that the PSS is able to meet the high performance standards for protecting life demanded by the most modern building codes,” the release says.

“With more than 30,000 engineering hours invested, this new Prescient Seismic System expands upon the fundamentals of our standard Unified Truss Configuration System (UTCS) to yield a more economical and faster building solution that can withstand high seismic forces,” said Magued Eldaief, CEO, Prescient. “The ability to now design buildings up to 160 feet high, or 12 stories above 4 stories of podium in seismic locations, is an incredible opportunity for us and one that will no doubt open doors to many future projects.”

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.