Reports

Trusted Building Industry Data

Consult our market research, financial insights, and performance evaluations

Designing for Natural Hazards

Home Innovation Research Labs (Home Innovation) was tasked by HUD to develop a set of practical, actionable guidelines to assist builders and developers in designing and constructing residential buildings, neighborhoods, and accessory structures in a manner that could improve residential resilience to natural hazards and integrate resiliency throughout the community.

Retrofit Improvements: Fire Retardant Wood Shingles or Shakes

File Under: Resilience

During a wildfire, or an adjacent building fire, roof coverings are exposed to ignition due to their large area and orientation. Leaves or dead vegetation collected in gutters can be easily ignited by embers, spreading flames to roof coverings and other roof components. The flames can subsequently propagate into the interior of the building, resulting in substantial damage or even total loss of the building.

The Wood Tornado Shelter

File Under: Resilience

The United States experiences more tornado activity than any other country in the world. Engineers at the USDA’s Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) have developed a residential wood tornado shelter that meets industry safety standards and can be built in an existing home by advanced DIYers. This TechSpec presents an overview of this tornado shelter’s design and construction process. The step-by-step Construction Guide can be used by advanced DIYers and remodelers to build this shelter room design in an existing home.

TechSpec: Cold-Formed Steel Framing

File Under: Resilience, Structural Performance

Steel has a proven track record in a number of industries from automobile and railroad manufacturing to bridge and commercial construction. Over the past two decades, cold-formed steel has seen increased usage as the structural frame for residential and multi-story commercial buildings due to inherent features that overcome the downsides of conventional products. Rigorous building environs, like Hawaii and California have seen the largest increase in residential steel framing where earthquakes, high winds, termites and brush fires wreak havoc on less-durable materials.

Revised Builder's Guide to Frost Protected Shallow Foundations

File Under: Resilience, Structural Performance

A frost protected shallow foundation (FPSF) is a practical alternative to a deeper, more-costly foundation in cold regions with seasonal ground freezing and the potential for frost heave. The International Residential Code® (IRC) includes prescriptive methods for constructing frost protected shallow foundations in heated buildings. By the IRC reference to ASCE 32-01 (American Society of Civil Engineers, Design and Construction of Frost-Protected Shallow Foundations, 2001), FPSFs in semi-heated and unheated buildings that meet the requirements of the IRC may also be designed and constructed.