Library

Guide providing minimum design and construction requirements for storm shelters that provide a safe refuge from storms that produce high winds, hurricanes, and tornadoes.

Report summarizing the requirements to strenghthen new homes against property damage caused by high wind occurrences per the IBHS Fortified Homes High Wind Standard for New Homes.

Report summarizing the wind-resistant provisions of the 2015 edition of the International Building Code.

Florida building code including all the amendments and additions by Florida for the wind-borne debris regions and the high-velocity hurricane zone.

A colored map showing seismic zones across the United States, ranging from lowest to highest seismic hazards.

Report assessing and scoring code enforcement and administration and contractor licensing in the 18 states most vulnerable to catastrophic hurricanes along the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf of Mexico.

Building code for the state of California providing the building rules and regulations as well as disaster resistance tools.

Report summarizing the requirements for strenghtening and protecting the roof, openings in the house, and creating a continuous load path to strengthen walls and foundation per the IBHS Fortified Homes Hurricane Standard for New Homes.

2020 energy efficiency code for the state of Florida.

Residential building code for the State of Florida.

Guide describing the requirements by FORTIFIED Home™ for improving the home's resistance in severe thunderstorms, straight-line wind events, and high winds at the outer edges of tornadoes.

Guide describing the requirements by FORTIFIED Home™ for improving the home's resistance in severe thunderstorms, straight-line wind events, and high winds at the outer edges of tornadoes.

A presentation on the 2020 State Mechanical Code for easier understanding.

Report assessing building codes for the 18 Atlantic and Gulf coast states which are most prone to hurricanes, as of 2018.

Report providing builders in marine climates with guidance for building homes that have whole-house energy savings of 40% over the Building America benchmark with no added overall costs for consumers.

Article describing tree health, environmental considerations, and details on how to preserve trees.

Guidance document from the UN environment programme on climate-resilient buildings and communities practices, including guidance on heat waves, drought, hurricanes, and flooding.

Guide developed to help contractors, building operators, and city officials successfully adopt cool roof and pavement technology.

Factsheet describing how window shades can keep out unwanted heat, detailing the most effective products and practices.

Study from Appalachian State University on passive solar design to take advantage of local climate zones for energy conservation.

Report describing the experience gained from AIA’s Disaster Assistance Program with first-hand accounts of disaster response and recovery, case studies and other best practices, including approaches to designing buildings to be more adaptable to uncertainty.

Article describing shade trees and how to plant, maintain, and replace them.

Paper describing an experiment to quantify shade tree impacts on cooling-related electricity consumption, finding that there may be sizable benefits in hot regions.

A publication highlighting recommendations that contribute to improved overall performance in the structural shell and focus on good connection details to tie together exterior walls, roofs and floors.

Website homepage of APA – The Engineered Wood Association, a nonprofit trade association combining the research efforts of scientists and engineers, APA promotes new solutions and improved processes that benefit the entire industry.

Wall bracing calculator simplifying the design of residential structures that comply with 2009, 2012, 2015, 2018 or 2021 International Residential Code (IRC) wall bracing requirements.

Power Point PDF presentation on historical architecture in New Mexico

Web-based mapping tool offering a fast, reliable way to look up key design parameters specified in Standard ASCE 7-10, 7-16, or 7-22 for a specific address or location which is free to use and can look up data for eight different environmental hazard types: wind, tornado, seismic, ice, rain, flood...

A report that evaluates the force it takes to crack stucco of various thicknesses.

Article by the Canadian Government on attic ventilation and considerations for moisture and ice dams.

Information sheet from FEMA on preparation for extreme heat, including measures for keeping homes cool.

Article describing the benefits trees provide through quotes and anecdotes.

Webpage explaining how to site and orient a house to take advantage of the solar path.

Document containing recommendations on how to brace roofs and gable end walls based on lessons learned from analyzing the destruction from hurricane Andrew.

Article published by American Society of Civil Engineers on different building types and their effectiveness resisting extreme heat from a building envelope perspective.

Online tool for thermal comfort calculations and visualizations SoftwareX 12, 100563 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2020.100563

Fact sheet describing changes made to the 2010 Florida Building Code with regards to wind design loads and requirements.

Website providing data indicating climate change.

Climate Consultant is a software tool for helping architects, builders, contractor, homeowners, and students to understand their local climate.

Webpage providing information on how window shading can reduce heat gain in summer and heat loss in winter.

Report assessing the science of climate change with a focus on the U.S.

Fact sheet describing the characteristics that make for a successful coastal residential building, including design and construction recommendations; also published in FEMA P-499 “Home Builder’s Guide to Coastal Construction: Technical Fact Sheet Series.”

Report describing retrofitting options and methodology for architects, developers, and property owners to use when making decisions about retrofits for common building types in NY.

Report providing tools and resources to help community planners to improve coastal resilience.

Volume II of a two-volume report providing a comprehensive approach to design, construction, and renovation of homes located in coastal environments.

Article summarizing the IBHS stance on building practices that can mitigate the impact of high winds and storm surge on structures.

Study investigating measured cooling energy performance in side-by-side identical homes with varying roof types, including cool roof technologies.

Guidance from Zero Energy Project on construction techniques for warmer climates, such as home orientation, and insulation requirements.

Article describing construction best practices to help reduce the wind-induced pressure loads on a low-rise building during a hurricane.

Study describing efforts and outcomes in developing color-pigmented roofing products with coatings to increase solar reflectance.