Archinect - News

Weakened North Carolina building codes jeopardized property after Hurricane Helene

2024-10-31T18:27:00-04:00

The long road back for residents of the western North Carolina counties that were heavily impacted due to flooding from Hurricane Helene is still being mapped out, but now the New York Times and other local outlets are reporting on critics who say reforms to the state’s building codes could have exacerbated the scale of property losses.

SB 166, which was passed into law last July, removed a requirement for professional architects to sit on the State Building Code Council. Both it and the related House Bill 488 were supported by the North Carolina Home Builders Association, echoing issues that came to the fore in Kentucky after a string of devastating tornadoes there three years ago.

Compounding the recovery process for homeowners is the fact that most did not own flood insurance policies. The data analytics company CoreLogic has estimated property damage in the area to be worth upwards of $47.5 billion.

DoD-funded study helps predict building maintenance costs using climate data

2024-10-22T16:17:00-04:00

A new study funded by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) using climate data to predict the cost of maintenance for military facilities threatened by extreme weather events has outlined new approaches for estimating condition loss and reduction of services. The findings, which can be applied to civilian organizations with similarly large building portfolios, aim to "understand the risks that may be present in certain buildings and building systems" with the aid of a specially-developed damage matrix (or DAM).

The risk calculations from the DAM are then applied to specific facilities to compute potential damages.

Iowa State University associate professor Christina Patricola, who led the team national researchers, explains: "We calculate future changes in extreme weather based on climate model simulations and translate it to estimate how much certain components of a building are expecte...

A new tool provides wildfire risk data to American homeowners in the face of climate change

2022-05-18T20:15:00-04:00

Wildfires are becoming an increasing threat to American homeowners with the acceleration of climate change, and now a new tool from the nonprofit First Street Foundation will allow them to access probability-based data about the potential risk their property may face over the next 30 years.

By incorporating open-source tax information, satellite imaging, and advanced computer modeling, the Foundation was able to produce a Fire Factor metric and interactive map that details both the intensity of future burns and their ability to move across varying topographies. An individual structure’s score is thus determined by its available defensible space, roof and construction type, and proximity to fuels like trees, shrubs, and wild grasses.

Currently, there is no publicly available data on fire risk similar to the flood damage assessments required by the federal National Flood Insurance Prog...

A historic home in Cape Cod is teetering on the brink after this weekend’s bomb cyclone

2022-02-02T10:39:00-05:00

The blizzard over the weekend dumped more than two feet of snow in many areas, while also inflicting major damage to communities along the Massachusetts coastline. In Truro, a house was left suspended on stilts over a beach after violent waves from the blizzard’s storm surge essentially washed away its remaining foundation.

The home was once owned and operated by the U.S. Coast Guard and was subject to a hastened attempt late last week by the homeowner to stabilize its pilings and prevent a total loss after a January 17th storm eroded nearly 20 feet of beach from the front of the property. A 2016 profile of the beach community published by The Seattle Times revealed a rare “managed retreat” organized amongst the locals. The town said the owners have made plans to move back their property in a press statement released just prior to the storm.

The $1.5 million property was almost entirely fronted by a large dune only only a few short months ago which has now almost completely eroded, leaving a dramatic impression on anyone with an eye on the disappearing backside of the Cape’s 70-mile shoreline. Globally, similar beaches are expected to lose about 22,430 miles of sand to erosion over the next 30 years, a figure that will nearly triple by the end of the century.

Drone footage of house nearly falling int...

What's left from the Alberta wildfire

2016-05-10T19:31:00-04:00

After a week of wildfires raging through the town of Fort McMurray and the surrounding area, more than 500,000 acres of forest and 2,400 buildings have been destroyed in Alberta, Canada. Rachel Notley, Alberta's premier, said that 90% of Fort McMurray remains intact, though several neighborhoods were complete losses...While the last fires in town are put out, and infrastructure repaired, more than 80,000 residents will have to wait at least another two weeks before they can return.