Gulf Coast Resilient Home Building Conference:
Building Strong for the Future

PRESENTATIONS

Resilient Site Planning and Foundations

Presented by James Wheeler, Gulf Coast Community Design Studio

Summary Description: Resilient house design starts with an understanding of the site. Every site has natural forces of sun, wind and rain. Many Gulf Coast sites are in flood zones. A site should be planned to make the best use of natural forces for energy conservation and comfort and be planned to mitigate for the destructive forces of flood water, high winds and falling trees. Resilient foundations should be designed to withstand hurricane wind loads and the force from flood water and debris and protect the house from flood water. The appropriate foundation type should be selected and designed for hurricane loads.

Please click James Wheeler for the presentation.

Resilient Floor, Wall and Roof Framing

Presented by David Perkes, American Institute of Architects, Gulf Coast Community Design Studio

Summary Description: Resilient house design depends upon a strong structure. Even though wood frame construction is a very familiar building technique, there are many critical details that must be understood and used for the house to resist hurricane-force winds. Wood framed floors, walls and roofs must be designed and built to withstand uplift and lateral loads that in many cases exceed the downward loads from gravity. Strapping, anchoring, and sheathing must work together to resist these wind forces.

Please click David Perkes for the presentation.

Resilient Walls, Roofs and Fenestration: The Building Enclosure Framing

Presented by Michael Grote, Gulf Coast Community Design Studio

Summary Description: Resilient house design requires a strong and tight enclosure. The walls, roof, doors and windows must resist hurricane force winds, wind driven rain, and moisture that can enter the assembly and affect its durability and performance. Because there are suppliers and manufacturers of the component parts of a house enclosure, all in the business of selling their products, it can be confusing to determine the relative strength, durability and energy performance of various products. A general understanding of the physics of enclosures and the performance requirements of resilient assemblies is useful to sort through the many choices.

Please click Michael Grote for the presentation.

Resilient Building: Wood-Frame Construction

Presented by Mike Rimoldi, Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH)

Summary Description:  Wood-frame construction remains the primary method of residential construction in the U.S.  This session covered techniques available to home-owners for strengthening their homes against natural disasters, specifically high winds and water.  These techniques are currently outlined in the FLASH Blueprint for Safety (blueprintforsafety.org).  The class also discussed practical issues such as ease of construction, material availability and cost.

Please click Mike Rimoldi for the presentation.  

 Combining Resilient With Green When Retrofitting Your Home

Presented by Tom Napier, Resilient Home Program

Summary Description:  The concepts of "resilience" and "green" have a lot in common because protecting and preserving what we already have is an important sustainability strategy.  In addition to reinforcing your home against storm events, retrofitting for resilience can also create opportunities to "green" your home environment.  Benefits can include reduction of waste; improved indoor air quality; energy efficiency; reduction of water consumption; and reduction of carbon emissions.  A general understanding of resilience and sustainability in residential construction is useful for making the best overall choices.  This session described opportunities to improve both resilience and sustainability at the same time when performing routine upgrades, upgrades specifically to improve resilience, and/or repairs to damaged homes.  Topics included an overview of resilience and sustainability principles; structural materials and products; interior and exterior materials and products; energy efficiency; water conservation; site landscape features; and important issues for homeowners to consider when contracting for repair, upgrade, or remodeling services.

 Please click Tom Napier for the presentation.

Substantial Damage/Substantial Improvement and the National Flood Insurance Program

Presented by Jack Anderson, FEMA

Summary Description:  Before repairing or making flood protection improvements to a home located in a mapped floodplain, it is vital for homeowners to understand how good building practices and local regulations work together under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).  This floodplain management program can significantly reduce the impacts of future flood events.  If work on an existing structure constitutes "substantial improvement" or "repair of substantial damage," then the structure must be brought into compliance with NFIP requirements for new construction.  Requirements include elevating the lowest floors to or above the base flood elevation.  This session provided an overview of the Substantial Improvement/Substantial Damage (SI/SD) Desk Reference, which provides homeowners clear and detailed guidelines to NFIP, including diagrams, decision charts, illustrations and examples.

 Please click Jack Anderson for the presentation.

Alternatives to Wood-Frame Construction

Presented by Leidy Klotz, Clemson University

Summary Description:  While wood-frame construction remains the primary method of residential construction in the U.S., there are alternatives available.  This session will cover some of these alternatives including insulated concrete forms, structural insulated panels and steel-frame construction.  Major topics included the technical properties of each alternative to wood-frame construction, including pros and cons related to building resilience; as well as practical issues such as ease of construction and material availability.

 Please click Leidy Klotz for the presentation.