Builders, scientists developing beyond-code strategies for wind resistance

Builders and building scientists continue to come up with techniques and products that go beyond codes to defend against high winds. Asheville, N.C., builder Deltec Homes calls its factory-built structures “about as close as you can get” to hurricane-proof. The system’s eight-foot panels are flat, not curved, but assembled into a round home.

Texas building company Monolithic Constructors and its steel-reinforced concrete dome-shaped buildings, the company says, meet FEMA standards “for providing near-absolute protection” from tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and manmade disasters.

Many builders and remodelers are meeting building codes with “home hardening” and upgraded versions of more traditional mitigation for roof covering and shape; water barriers; reinforcements between walls, floors, foundations and roofs; the bracing of gables; shatterproof glass; and hurricane-rated doors.

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