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 2007 Project Home Themes
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Did you know that in the United States approximately 5,000 earthquakes occur every year that are strong enough to be felt?
According to the Insurance Information Institute, since 1900, earthquakes have occurred in 39 states and caused damage in all 50. It is the western states, however, where the largest amount of property damage has occurred. Nine out of 10 of the most costly earthquakes in U.S. history have taken place in just three states: California, Washington and Oregon.
So when the decision was made to build the first-ever NextGen Home Experience® in Seattle, Washington, one of the natural goals became to build one of the most earthquake resistant homes the region — and the country —has ever seen.
For guidance, NextGen turned to the Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) a national nonprofit association dedicated to reducing the social and economic effects of natural disasters through constant research aimed at improving construction practices. IBHS’s Fortified…for safer living® program is specifically designed to provide new home builders with guidelines covering the most effective construction, design and landscaping practices to strengthen a home from the ground up.
“By including the Fortified…for safer living® criteria in the NextGen Home Experience®, we bring our disaster-resistant construction program west of the Rockies for the first time to demonstrate that a home can be built to better withstand whatever nature throws at it,” says Chuck Vance, IBHS Fortified Program Manager.
So what are the secrets to building a home that boasts the next generation of strength and durability? The following are some of the key elements of this “Fortified” home:
Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) Used to create everything from the Roman Pantheon to the overpass you take everyday to work, concrete is also a main component of the NextGen Home Experience®. In place of traditional wood framing, this home uses insulated concrete forms, or ICFs, manufactured by Amvic, a leader in the industry. Amvic’s ICFs are hollow, lightweight, "stay in place" forms made of two panels of expanded polystyrene that are connected by polypropylene webs. To make walls, the forms are stacked together then filled with reinforced steel and concrete.
Structurally Insulated Panels (SIPS) High performance building panels for walls, floors and roofs, SIPS by Premier Building Systems are formed by sandwiching foam insulation on either side with pieces of oriented strand board –encompassing framing and insulation into a single product. Boasting structural characteristics similar to a steel I-beam, SIPS provide a much stronger alternative to stud framing and fiberglass insulation.
Stone coated steel roofing panels
It may look like a regular shake roof, but it can survive some of the world’s harshest weather conditions. The roof of the NextGen Home Experience®, by DECRA Roofing Systems, combines the beauty and style of traditional wood shake with the strength and longevity of steel -- all strengthened even further by an interlocking structure and unique horizontal fastening method.
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