The weight of a building is a fundamental parameter that plays a critical role in structural hazard assessment, finite element model updating, foundation settlement prediction, and other related fields. At present, two primary approaches are commonly used to estimate building weight: calculation based on design drawings and estimation from the total floor area. The first approach is often hindered by incomplete or missing design drawings, particularly for older buildings, while the second suffers from low accuracy and does not reliably represent the actual weight. To date, no direct method has been established for measuring building weight in engineering practice. To address this limitation, this study introduces a novel method for estimating building weight through modal testing using human‐induced excitation. In this approach, the excitation generated by human activity is either directly measured or reconstructed, while the corresponding dynamic response of the building is recorded simultaneously. By integrating established modal testing techniques and measurement devices with the particle swarm optimization algorithm, the modal mass of the structure is identified. The building’s weight is then obtained through the conversion relationship between modal mass and total weight. The proposed method was validated through three case studies: a 24‐story reinforced concrete building, an 8‐story steel frame building, and a 12‐story reinforced concrete building. The measured weights were compared with the actual values, yielding errors of 7.37%, 8.66%, and 2.70%, respectively. These results demonstrate the feasibility and the accuracy of the proposed method.
Li et al. (2026) studied this question.