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.

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.

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

Article describing utility rates, net metering policies, installation costs, financial incentives, and other info for both consumers who are interested in installing renewable energy systems and for energy justice and clean energy advocates.

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.

Website article describing the advantages and disadvantages of AC and DC battery energy storage systems and inverters for solar power systems.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Webpage from Suntegrity Solar describing different backup power generator options to prepare for future power outages.

Website providing comparison charts and reviews of battery energy storage systems for solar power systems.

Website with consumer and contractor information about building codes and regulations for solar water heating systems.

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

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

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

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.

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

ENERGY STAR webpage discussing the costs and benefits of cool roofs.

Web page providing information on the types of cool roofs and their benefits to consumers.

Tool developed by LBNL to calculate potential savings from increasing wall and roof solar reflectance.

Study reporting the results of comparative testing of the effect of finished and unfinished metal roofing systems on cooling energy performance in a test facility.

FEMA risk management series guide on hospital safety and resilience to natural disasters.

Report providing information on ways to incentivize funding of hazard mitigation programs.

Website helping communities address coastal issues with data, tools, and training resources.

A guide on the use of rain barrels for greater water efficiency and use in gardens and lawns.

A research paper exploring the installation and mounting of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on rooftops and the challenges faced by system designers and installers.

Website for the U.S. DOE Solar Decathlon competition.

Simple web-based tool allowing homeowners to calculate the potential savings from installing a cool roof.

A PDF containing the SERC Solar PV System Field-Inspection Checklist.

Checklist describing solar water heating recommendations per the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home program.

Article describing the difference between swales and hugels (berms used to create soil from woody debris).

Designer checklist covering hazards involving ground and surface water, rain and water vapor, HVAC and plumbing, sunlight, insects, decay, and natural hazards, and builder checklist covering all disaster resistance, sorted by building component.

A book describing how to complete an earthquake retrofit plan for wood-frame residential buildings.