Library

Article from Washington Post on passive cooling measures for homes during extreme heat.

Factsheet describing defensible space and wildfire risk reduction steps that homeowners can take to make their homes safer during a wildfire.

Webpage describing how to locate and manually shut off natural gas service at the meter.

ICC-ES Evaluation Report reviewing proprietary steel shear wall panels developed by Simpson Strong-Tie Company to resist vertical and lateral loads in walls resulting from wind or earthquakes.

Webpage detailing how to purchase and install the correct shut-off valve for homes in California, including differences between earthquake and excess flow valves and how to install each.

Site showing flame spread ratings and definitions for common building materials.

This document covers how broken windows can allow wind and rain inside the house and even lead to roof failure.

Webpage describing benefits of adding battery storage to homes and an estimation tool.

Web page describing how to identify heat-related illness and how to prevent it.

Article from University of Arizona on keeping homes cool during extreme heat, both personal and system changes.

Test results used by multiple structural insulated panel manufacturers confirming a one-hour fire rating for specific SIP assemblies.

News article describing the state of the residential battery storage market.

Web article describing many ways homeowners, contractors, and builders can make homes more resistant to hurricanes, tornadoes, high winds, floods, and hail.

Brochure outlining what is covered under the National Flood Insurance Program

Webpage presenting updated maps for annual average temperature and precipitation in the contiguous U.S.

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.

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.

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 website containing a video series by NW Seismic illustrating how a seismic retrofit should be done and ways they are done incorrectly.

A webpage that provides wildfire preparedness and safety pictographs.

This study evaluated 11 measures for passive cooling using four heat resilience metrics with and without grid power in Fresno CA and found the two most effective measures were installing solar-control window films and adding roof insulation; natural ventilation also helped reduce overheating in...

City of Plymouth webpage providing information on the Plymouth Community Center Project.

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

Report covering reducing risk from flooding.

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

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

Fact sheet describing residential tornado safe room doors.

Guidance from HUD on how to restore homes following natural disasters in Puerto Rico.

Guidance from HUD on how to restore homes following natural disasters in Puerto Rico.

Report covering the planning, design, construction, and operation of residential and community safe rooms. Written for architects, engineers, building officials, local officials and emergency managers, and prospective safe room owners and operators.

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

The website by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) National Water and Climate Center tracks snowpack sensor stations at multiple sites across the country providing an interactive US map of snow loads.

ASTM standard for wood-composite decking and guardrail materials under a variety of tests, including fire performance and UV resistance. Available for preview and purchase at the reference link.

Bill requiring the Consumer Product Safety Commission to revise the safety standards for freestanding clothing storage units such as a dressers, bureaus, or chests of drawers to include testing related to tip overs and new warning requirements for all such products entering the U.S. market; passed...

Article defining structural design loads and ways to calculate them, including dead loads, live loads, soil lateral loads, wind loads, snow loads, earthquake loads, and other loads.

Report presenting safe room designs and showing the homeowner and builder/contractor or local design professional how to construct a safe room for a home or small business.

Article describing identification of termite infestations in homes and treatment options.

Study comparing the thermal performance of phase change materials to concrete construction during heat waves.

Online course describing the behavior of wildfires for firefighters.

Documents describing Flood Resistant Provisions of codes published by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officers (IAPMO): the Uniform Mechanical Code; Uniform Plumbing Code; Uniform Swimming Pool, Spa and Hot Tub Code; and Uniform Solar, Hydronics and Geothermal Code (Uniform...

Webpage from Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) on identifying key problem spots on unreinforced masonry chimneys and how to retrofit them to withstand seismic forces.

A reference guide providing basic tips on using backup generators safely and effectively.

Article describing ways to construct or retrofit a home to increase is resistance to high winds, hurricanes, and tornadoes.

Webpage from NW Natural on how to prepare homes with natural gas service for earthquakes and floods, what to do during an emergency, and how to respond after the emergency has passed.

An overview of impacts from weather, climate, and water extremes globally from 1970 to 2019 based on disaster data from the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT)

Guidelines from IBHS on modifications to homes to prepare for a wildfire if evacuation orders are anticipated for the area.

Webpage describing how different amounts and types of snow loads affect the structural integrity of roofs and homes.