Library

Technical report assessing the market for Low-e storm windows based on market data, case studies, and recent experience with weatherization deployment programs.

Guidebook providing useful examples of high performance retrofit techniques for the building enclosure of wood frame residential construction in a cold and somewhat wet climate.

Siding installation guide for Ply Gem Siding Group products.

Standard using performance-based principles to determine dead, live, soil, flood, tsunami, snow, rain, atmospheric ice, earthquake, wind, and fire loads, and their combinations for general structural design. This version of the standard was published in the year 2016 and is available in both digital...

Standard using performance-based principles to determine dead, live, soil, flood, tsunami, snow, rain, atmospheric ice, seismic, and wind loads, and their combinations for general structural design. The current version of this standard was published in the year 2022 and is available in both digital...

Standard using performance-based principles to determine dead, live, soil, flood, snow, rain, atmospheric ice, earthquake, and wind loads, and their combinations for general structural design. This version of the standard was published in the year 2010 and is available in both digital and print...

FEMA report describing findings from an investigation of Hurricane Ike in Texas and Louisiana and residential construction recommendations based on those findings.

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.

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

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...

Conference paper making the case that moving ducts to conditioned space saves energy, is practical for production builders (when accompanied by careful pre-planning), and creates significant andmarketable energy savings for homebuyers.

Website providing information on tsunamis, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, thunderstorms and more.

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.

Website containing USGS-related publications related to natural hazards.

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

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.

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

Report highlighting the evaluation methods used and extent of wind washing found in a study analyzing wind washing in thirty-two two-story homes.

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

Manual describing design, detailing, material selection and troubleshooting for plaster, IEFs, and drywall, with information on continuous insulation, air barriers, rain screens, and ratings for fire and sound.

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.

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

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.

Research project aimed to verify whether homes in the New Jersey HPwES program achieved 30% source energy savings, and if so, what measures were implemented to achieve them.

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 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.

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

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.

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.

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.