Library

A webpage outlining CAL FIRE’s recommendations for creating defensible space.

Webpage featuring hundreds of illustrations of masonry construction details for brick, congrete, stone, tile, stucco, etc.

Siding installation guide for Ply Gem Siding Group products.

Report providing a resource that communities can use to identify and evaluate a range of potential mitigation actions for reducing risk to natural hazards and disasters.

Fact sheet describing how typical wall moisture barrier systems work, the moisture barrier system and common problems associated with them; also published in FEMA P-499 “Home Builder’s Guide to Coastal Construction: Technical Fact Sheet Series.”

Article describing how moisture accumulates inside of structures and issues that result.

Report providing extensive guidance on controlling moisture in building envelopes through proper selection and installation on air, water, thermal, and vapor barriers.

Practical guide describing the management of moisture during a building's design, construction and maintenance.

EPA guidance document providing information on moisture control in buildings.

Article discussing moisture control in buildings as well as building design and construction strategies for keeping buildings dry and allowing buildings to dry out if they do get wet.

The next generation of building enclosures is a key step toward achieving high-performance goals through decreasing energy load demand and enabling advanced space-conditioning systems. Yet the adoption of high-R enclosures and particularly high-R walls has been a slow-growing trend because...

Website providing guidance about mold and moisture for homes, schools, multifamily and commercial buildings.

Online course providing an overview of mold prevention and mold remediation.

Report on a study monitoring moisture conditions of double-stud wall assemblies with different insulation in Devens, Massachusetts.

Article describing mulch requirements and benefits.

National Fire Protection Association website.

Report updating and expanding on a 2005 study that found, among other things, that every $1 of natural hazard mitigation funded by FEMA between 1993 and 2003 saved the American people an average of $4 in avoided future losses.

Report describing the interactions, both positive and negative, between common green building practices and the robustness of residential buildings to withstand natural hazards.

Building science insight into crawlspaces.

Report for local governments, planners, emergency managers, developers, insurers, and property owners describing ways to improve the wildfire resistance of buildings, infrastructure and communities in the wildland urban interface.

An NFPA Standard that identifies a method for determining the minimum water supply necessary for structural fire-fighting purposes in areas where it has been determined that there is no water or inadequate water for fire fighting.

NFPA standard for design and installation of indoor automatic fire sprinkler systems.

NFPA standard for indoor automatic fire sprinkler design and installation, focused on residential dwellings.

NFPA standard for indoor automatic fire sprinkler design and installation for low-rise residential occupancies.

An NFPA standards document that provides minimum requirements for the design, construction, installation, and maintenance of tanks and accessory equipment that supply water for private fire protection.

An NFPA standard for inspection, testing, and maintenance of fire sprinklers, including fire pump operation and flow tests, evaluation techniques such as sprinkler inspections, valve status tests, internal piping assessments, and forward flow tests for backflow preventers, and water storage system...

This standard provides a benchmark for safe electrical design, installation, and inspection to protect people and property from electrical hazards and has been adopted in all 50 states.

Standard establishing criteria for levels of health care services or systems based on risk to the patients, staff, or visitors in health care facilities to minimize the hazards of fire, explosion, and electricity.

A nine-part fact sheet covering a variety of common questions surrounding wildfires and how to make a home more resilient to wildfires.

A webpage that provides wildfire preparedness and safety pictographs.

A study on how fires spread through exterior building envelopes with discussion on how fires propagate in a rain screen cavity.

Webpage offering recommendations to homeowners and contractors for retrofitting a home to make it more resistant to wildfires.

Website describing methods for homeowners to prepare their homes to withstand ember attacks and minimize the likelihood of flames or surface fire touching the home or any attachments.

Fact sheet from Wisconsin Focus on Energy explaining how to prevent future ice dams on homes by learning about their formation and mitigation of contributing factors.

List of recommendations from IBHS on how to protect homes from ice dam formation.

Report providing wildfire protection guidance for homeowners in California.

Brochure describing multiple earthquake safety measures for homeowners to take, including home reinforcement, exterior maintenance, and recovery tips.

Article discussing fire safety for high-rise buildings.

An example of a form a building codes department created to ensure builders are fully aware and have taken steps to provide drainage so that water doesn’t accumulate behind siding. This example is from the city of Newberg, Oregon.

Report providing strategies to support occupant behavior changes for enhancing resilience, and to reduce a building's vulnerability to extreme weather, climate change, and loss of power.

Fact sheet describing conditions for wildfire, how a home catches fire, how to create a survivable space, the ideal fire resistant home.

Website describing wildfire related research conducted by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety at the IBHS Research Center.

Free Online Training in Reducing Wildfire Risks to People and Property for Home and Business Owners.

Article describing moisture and ice dam issues in attics and how to air seal the attic floor.

A student manual for containing information on residential sprinkler systems.

Fact sheet describing methods for flashing and air-sealing windows and doors.

Report covering non-combustible continuous exterior insulation and non-combustible roof venting.

Brochure for utility customers describing installation of an excess flow valve to automatically shut off natural gas flow into a home in the event of a gas line rupture.

Fact sheet for natural gas customers describing city’s seismic gas shut-off valve requirements.

Report from FEMA describing techniques for floodproofing structures.