SUSTAINABILITY aka RESILIENCY

Reprinted from TMS Sustainability E-Newsletter, Vol. 6, No. 4
Sustainable designs should also be resilient ones.  The links below feature several projects rebuilding in areas damaged by natural events.  Note that in the first two articles, “concrete” and “cinder blocks” are used to mean everything from concrete, to grout, to concrete masonry.  Two examples where correct terminology is needed!

New Exterior Helps Pay for Tenn. High School Addition :: WRCB-TV

A 13,000-square-foot addition at the Walker Valley High School in Charleston, Tenn., has been built -- and is covered in reinforced concrete.  [editor’s note: it is really a brick veneer over reinforced concrete masonry] The addition of the concrete is expected to make the building more resilient during tornadoes, and adding it also meant the Federal Emergency Management Agency would contribute to the structure's cost.  "The entire outside is reinforced concrete ... So it's basically built like a bunker," said Cason Conn, a senior project manager at Tri-Con, the project's contractor according to this report.

Exam of 2013 EF5 Tornado Site in Okla. Reveals Construction Flaws :: The Journal Record (Oklahoma City, OK)

Chris Ramseyer is an associate professor of civil engineering at the University of Oklahoma, a concrete-use expert and was a member of an American Society of Civil Engineers and the Structural Engineering Institute team sent to Moore, Okla., in 2013 following an EF5 tornado.  The storm destroyed two schools and killed dozens.  In this article, Ramseyer discusses some of the construction flaws he and the team found. 
 

Group Backs Bill to Help Curtail Wind Damage to Homes, Businesses :: PropertyCasualty360

The Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety backs legislation filed by Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, to bolster research on making homes and businesses less susceptible to wind damage.  "Tragic high-wind-related disasters during the last two years alone ... are clear signs that we need to focus on significantly reducing the vulnerability of our communities to these types of devastating events," said Debra Ballen, the group's general counsel and senior vice president of public policy.  Read more.