Question

Why would your structural engineer tell you he wanted to "tune" your building?

Answer

A structural engineer would "tune" a building so that the building's period of motion falls outside the range of ground motion frequency. Fundamental periods of motion in structures range from a tenth of a second (in low buildings) to 4 seconds or more (in high rise structures). Ground generally vibrates with a period of a half to one second. If, during a seismic event, the period of ground motion and the period of motion in a building coincide, the building may resonate, and the loads will be increased.