"Office buildings are taking precautions particularly if they have tenant groups that represent government or international groups that at terrorist might want to strike to make a statement," Nadal told United Press International.
She adds that architects and building planners are taking concerns such as chemical and biological weapon defense into consideration as they design or retrofit buildings.
Structural engineers are using a concept called "progressive collapse design" so that if a blast occurs, the beams and girders would collapse initially where the explosion happened, and the rest of the design would hold to allow occupants to escape.
Building designers planning a structure for security may use a special type of glass in the windows that crumble rather than collapse into sharp, deadly shards, as was the case in the Oklahoma City bombing where the glass blew inward, says Nadel, who chairs the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 2002 Committee on Architecture for Justice.
The physical layout of new commercial buildings is also changing, she says. Facilities that pose a high security risk such as federal courthouses and government buildings are being constructed to a standard 50 to 100 feet away from the street, thus decreasing the damage of a bomb attack.
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