THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 11, 1995 TAG: 9503090307
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRIS KIDDER, SPECIAL TO REAL ESTATE WEEKLY
LENGTH: Long : 169 lines
Which building methods and materials will provide the most wind and flood resistance for single family homes?
Southern Shores, a small town on North Carolina's Outer Banks, is being funded by a consortium of public and private sponsors to find the answers. What's learned at Southern Shores could affect residential construction along the coast from Maine to Texas.
Southern Shores is a community blessed with a never-say-it-can't-be-done mayor and a persuasive town manager. The town took aim at the problems of coastal construction after its building inspector raised questions about dwellings built to engineered specifications rather than the state's building code.
As house designs become more complex, engineers play a larger role in determining how homes are built. ``How could building inspectors possibly know enough to determine if `engineered' solutions are, in fact, safe?'' asked Southern Shores Town Manager Cay Cross.
And were construction crews sufficiently trained to carry out what engineers specify? Cross was concerned about the town's liability.
Cross set out to find help for her building inspector but found few resources. Although recent storms spawned dozens of coastal projects, none was broad enough in scope to provide what Southern Shores needed. Other programs addressed only commercial or multifamily buildings where engineering has traditionally played a key role.
She met a Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator at a conference and complained about the lack of information. Go home and come up with a workable plan to address the problem, said the official, and he'd see that it was funded.
Cross took him up on the offer. She began working on Project Blue Sky in April 1994. By August, the proposal was complete and she knocked on doors, looking for corporate sponsors and political allies to secure state and federal funding for the project.
Cross didn't need to knock long or hard. Andersen Windows, the American Plywood Association, Dominion Resources (umbrella company for North Carolina Power and Virginia Power), Home Depot, Independent Insurance Agents, ITW Paslode, Simpson Strong-Tie and State Farm Insurance quickly agreed to sponsor the project.
Then, Weyerhauser signed up and brought the American Wood Council on board. Cross hopes to find a major lending institution willing to participate.
FEMA has committed just over $1 million to Project Blue Sky. ``It shows a tremendous amount of local initiative involving all levels of government as well as private business,'' says Richard Moore, associate director of the FEMA mitigation programs.
FEMA wants to spend more to encourage building standards and retrofitting that will reduce loss of life and property, says Moore. ``We think Project Blue Sky could serve as an important model for other areas in the country.''
Southern Shores expects FEMA to give the project official recognition at the National Hurricane Conference in Atlantic City, N.J., next month.
The town intends to share the spotlight with its corporate sponsors, which have been ask to contribute more than just ``raw dollars.''
``We want real participation,'' says Ralph Calfee, Project Blue Sky's resident engineer. ``The response has been amazing.''
Randy Shackleford, a research engineer for Simpson Strong-Tie, will be involved in the design and construction of the Project Blue Sky demonstration and training center. ``We'll be donating materials as well as technical assistance.''
Work on the center will start this May when another partner in the project, Clemson University, sends a team of faculty and graduate students to Southern Shores.
With the Clemson team on hand, Southern Shores has invited corporate sponsors for a round-table work session. It will be a chance for the participants to define their roles and look for ways to work together, says Cross.
Sponsors are already making plans. Richard Hauer, a senior research engineer with Andersen Windows, wants to work with Clemson on testing window openings.
``A major concern we have is fenestration openings,'' Hauer said. ``In certain instances they get very complex. We want to be sure the contractor building homes is putting together a home that withstands what's necessary.''
``For Project Blue Sky, the solutions can't be ivory tower stuff,'' says Cross. ``We've got to come up with things that work in theory as well as in the real world.''
Dr. Scott Schiff, assistant professor of civil engineering at Clemson, says Project Blue Sky is different from other hurricane projects he's worked on.
``We're looking at the R&D package, at better ways to design and build, which we've done to some extent before'' says Schiff. But this is the first project that ``provides practical focus. Project Blue Sky gives us a chance to take what we've been doing and put it into practice. It will provide us with better information.''
Schiff's research and development package is one of eight in the Project Blue Sky proposal. His department will be defining ways in which wind affects the integrity of the house envelope. Special attention will be given to role connections play in structural failures.
North Carolina State University and the University of West Virginia have agreed to help set up a national information clearinghouse and training programs for architects, engineers, residential designers and material suppliers. They're planning a ``Certified Builder'' program for contractors.
One package will produce a consumer handbook for hazard-resistant house construction. Another will work with government, as well as the lending and insurance industries, to establish consumer incentives for safer building.
In addition to the training center which will be a model for new construction, the town will undertake retrofit projects demonstrating hazard-resistant materials and construction methods for existing buildings.
While both the training center and retrofit projects will be open to the public, the project's biggest impact may come from its pre-approved, pre-engineered Acceptable Alternative Materials and Methods and Improved Designs and Construction Practices.
FEMA estimates that for every dollar of structural damage by a storm, homeowners lose $10 to $20 in subsequent wind and water damage, says Calfee. While buildings pre-dating current building codes suffer much damage, there was enough damage to newer structures to cause alarm.
``Most building codes are based on typical boxy-type structures,'' says Schiff. ``When we get away from that, the code doesn't address building for hazard-resistance very well.''
Developing better ways to build to reduce or eliminate damage is an essential part of Project Blue Sky, says Calfee. AAMMs will address problems that the building community has in meeting code standards while IDCPs will go beyond the code to offer options for improved building.
Unlike the mandatory building code changes recently approved in North Carolina in response, in part, to demands from the insurance industry, the AAMMs and IDCPs developed for Project Blue Sky would be options not mandates.
``The program is not meant to create a body of regulations for builders,'' says Calfee.
``Absolutely not,'' says Cross, ``Project Blue Sky is an effort to address the problems and give people choices not new rules.
``We've had a lot of knee-jerk reaction to catastrophic storms,'' says Skip Saunders, president of the Outer Banks Home Builders Association. ``Personally, I feel some of the new requirements miss the mark. Project Blue Sky's business-oriented approach may be more effective. It can help the home market without adding regulations and codes which increase building costs.''
Project Blue Sky tackles hazard-resistant construction from many angles, but everyone involved with the project admits that the ultimate test of the program's success rests with consumers.
``We want consumers to ask for hazard-resistant homes built by certified builders just like they ask for the power company's Energy Saver homes,'' says Cross.
Saunders believes that consumers are ready for the concept in the new home market. Look at how Detroit is marketing safety features.
``When you look at the investment you make in a house compared to your car, you have to take the guts of the house into consideration,'' says Saunders. ``Consumers are paying more attention to structural details.'' They're ready to commit more dollars to safer construction, he believes.
Southern Shores and FEMA hope that Project Blue Sky opens up a retrofit market, but it may be a tougher sell. ``It has to be market driven. There will have to be incentives,'' says Saunders. ``But when consumers finally buy into it, you'll see more lively discussions when homeowners go into remodeling projects.''
``The singular goal of Project Blue Sky is safer houses,'' says Cross. And although she started out looking for ways to help her town's residents rest easier when windstorms threaten the Outer Banks, she's pleased that the project will benefit the entire Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
``Modern residential design and technology have allowed us to build some beautiful homes on our shoreline. That same technology allows us to build those houses to stand up to the wind and that's what we're after,'' says Southern Shores Mayor Kern Pitts. ``It's as simple as that.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on cover by Drew C. Wilson
Cay Cross, Ralph Calfee, Bob Sykes and Ben Cahoon...
Staff photos by Drew C. Wilson
Bob Sykes, left, building consultant, and Ralph Calfee, an engineer,
check out a cottage overhang in Southern Shores where ``hurricane
clips'' are installed.
Hurricane clips are used to tie down rafters to the beams on the
overhang.
by CNB