Building Trends that Address Disaster Mitigation

With over fifty years of experience as a leading commercial concrete contractor in the Western U.S., The Conco Companies have a portfolio that includes many innovative, exciting architectural projects.  We are always interested in learning more about the latest building trends, and as such, have started blogging about them.  Our latest addition involves disaster mitigation.  Some of the information is based on an article from the Chicago public media organization, WTTW, and discusses new building trends in the industry.       

We have all seen the damage that powerful EF4 and EF5 strength tornados have done in parts of Alabama, Missouri, and Oklahoma over the last few years.  The complete devastation of many of the single, wood-framed homes demonstrated how little protection they offered.  Not one of the wood-framed homes in the direct path of the forceful storms survived.   In addition we all saw the total devastation from hurricane Sandy that destroyed entire communities and left $71 billion in damages among the 24 states affected by the storm in 2012.

These types of disasters have been a call of action for communities, architects, builders and the government.  Organizations such as the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have joined forces to work on solutions to help mitigate this type of damage.  They are looking at better ways to prepare for future catastrophes and evaluate which areas are most at risk.  There is even talk about raising the standards of local building codes to help reduce or eliminate future damage.

According to WTTW, the recommendations from the group’s collaboration are “By retrofitting existing buildings, establishing more consistent building codes (and local standards suited to local risks), working through various “what if” scenarios, and putting plans in place for repairing and rebuilding when necessary, the architecture and building community hopes to improve readiness for – and response to – inevitable natural disasters.”

Source:

interactive.wttw.com/tenbuildings/ten-building-trends-could-change-america

When your project demands exceptional services and the best value, Conco can deliver. We partner with clients on every project from the pre-construction stage right through to final completion offering cost-effective solutions to meet the ever-changing demands of the industry. We have four regional offices serving California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Colorado.