Library

Guide for electrical systems design including installation guidance and best practices for flood-prone areas.

Guide for fuel systems design including installation guidance and formulas for calculating loads and buoyancy forces for specifying number, type and capacity of strapping for hold-downs in flood-prone areas.

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.

Webpage describing water treatment standards as related to residential drinking water filters.

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

A fact sheet educating the public on the potential hazards and safe use of portable generators.

Database describing FEMA preparedness webinars including natural hazard preparedness.

Fact sheet describing how to prepare for a natural disaster and assemble a disaster supply kit.

Report containing data on injuries and fatalities associated with television, furniture, and appliance product instability, or tip-over incidents.

Brochure describing multiple earthquake safety measures for homeowners to take, including home reinforcement, evacuation tips, and electrical and appliance tips.

Table calculating friction losses of PVC pipe fittings.

Table calculating friction losses for PVC pipe by length.

Report showing how to identify, inventory, and screen buildings that are potentially hazardous because of seismic hazards.

Document with important building science considerations, designed for members of the residential construction and remodeling industries, as well as owners and managers who work in affordable housing.

A fact sheet providing tips on how to assemble a kit of food, water and other disaster supplies in the event of an emergency.

Guide addressing immediate responses for cleaning up after natural disasters, including a list of construction retrofit guidance for natural disasters.

Report describing the REDi™ Rating System, which is a framework for implementing “resilience-based earthquake design,” a holistic “beyond-code” design, planning and assessment approach for achieving earthquake resilience.

Field manual describing measures to reduce potential hazards and damages caused by and to nonstructural components of a building such as HVAC, appliances, lighting, windows, and furniture during an earthquake.

Webpage from FEMA describing how to properly reconstruct masonry fireplace chimneys damages by earthquakes.

Website with information and research about residential hot water distribution systems.

Website providing resources for seismic retrofits for builders and homeowners as well as city permit requirements from the City of Portland OR.

A guide on how to anchor fuel tanks to avoid damage from flooding and seismic events to the home by using straps and solid concrete slabs.

A brochure educating homeowners on how to install self-locking devices on cabinets, drawers and doors, including child-proof latches and drawer locks.

Technical paper covering the retrofit of unreinforced masonry buildings.

This project analyzed combined condensing water heaters or boilers and hydronic air coils to provide high efficiency domestic hot water (DHW) and forced air space heating. Called "combi" systems, they provided similar space and water heating performance less expensively than installing two...

Article from the Institute of Biological Engineering describing reverse osmosis water softeners.

Factsheet from HUD describing how to properly rebuild following natural disasters in Puerto Rico.

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.

Article describing San Francisco and how impending seismic activity may affect modern skyscrapers.

Factsheet describing air-sealing.

A fact sheet providing homeowners with guidance on properly securing water heaters to prevent them from tipping in an earthquake.

Fact sheet describing improvements in the earthquake resistance of residential and commercial new construction through the adoption into the International Residential Code of seismic provisions including those developed by the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP).

Website providing links to building codes, seismic codes, code enforcement, safe buildings, and seismic retrofitting.

Document describing precast concrete earthquake design considerations including connections, detailing, and forces, among others.

Website providing an introduction to the concepts and principles of seismic design.

Standard using deficiency-based and systematic procedures that use performance-based principles to evaluate and retrofit existing buildings to withstand the effects of earthquakes.

Standard using deficiency-based and systematic procedures that use performance-based principles to evaluate and retrofit existing buildings to withstand the effects of earthquakes. The current version of this standard was published in the year 2017, and is available in both digital and print...

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

Reports describing a mathematical methodology for assessing the seismic performance of buildings.

Report promoting public safety and welfare by reducing the risk of earthquake-induced damage to existing homes.

Report promoting public safety and welfare by reducing the risk of earthquake-induced damage to existing homes.

Report providing retrofit measures intended to significantly reduce damage and increase occupant safety for existing buildings.

Report seeking to teach building contractors and building inspectors the correct methods for doing typical seismic retrofits that have been designed by an engineer or architect or described in a prescriptive standard.

Newsletter containing five articles focused on seismic retrofitting.

Article outlining the key issues related to the protection of the building envelope against seismic forces.

Description of California Senate Bill SB 1898, which requires the sale of new seismic gas shutoff devices sold in California to be certified by the State Architect.

Fact sheet describing guidance concerning lot selection and building siting considerations for coastal residential buildings, including factors that constrain siting decisions, coastal setback lines, common siting problems, and suggestions for builders, designers, and owners; also published in FEMA...

Guide providing guidance on conducting seismic risk assessments for buildings. The link goes to the current version of this standard, which was published in the year 2016 and is available for preview and purchase. Previous editions of this standard were published in the year 2016, 2007, and 1999...

Practice providing a guide or standard to undertake seismic risk assessment of properties. The current version of the standard was published in the year 2016 and is available for preview and purchase at the link. Previous versions of the standard were published in the years 2016 and 2007, and are...

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...