Building Science Resource Library
The Building Science Resource Library contains all of FEMA’s hazard-specific guidance that focuses on creating hazard-resistant communities.
You can search for a document by its title, or filter the collection to browse by:
- Topic: High winds, flood, earthquake, etc.
- Document Type: Brochure, report, fact sheet, infographic, etc.
- Audience: Building professionals & engineers, individuals & homeowners, teachers & kids, etc.
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This report discusses the performance of basement buildings during Hurricane Ida in New York City and the role of urban flooding. It includes results from previous flooding events such as Hurricane Sandy and Harvey.
This fact sheet discusses urban flooding, a type of flooding that occurs in cities due to heavy rainfall and inadequate stormwater drainage systems. It highlights the risks associated with urban flooding, including safety risks and damage to buildings and occupants. The document also provides information on how building owners, tenants, and communities can take actions to minimize damage from urban flooding.
Homeowners, business owners, design professionals and builders in wildfire-prone regions can benefit from understanding general fire resistance characteristics of common construction materials and building products. This Recovery Advisory aims to provide a list of materials that can withstand higher exposure and help slow the spread of fire, but it is important to remember that fire-resistant does not mean fire-proof.
This summary report focuses on the performance of one- and two-family residential buildings impacted by the August 2023 wildfires on Maui. The performance of residential buildings varied depending on their design, construction type and quality, geographic location, siting, development density, landscape vegetation, distance to other surrounding flammable materials, and maintenance history. Several homes sustained damage from wind as well as fire, including wind damage to roof coverings, windows, and doors.
This summary report focuses on the performance of one- and two-family residential buildings impacted by the August 2023 wildfires on Maui. The performance of residential buildings varied depending on their design, construction type and quality, geographic location, siting, development density, landscape vegetation, distance to other surrounding flammable materials, and maintenance history. Several homes sustained damage from wind as well as fire, including wind damage to roof coverings, windows, and doors.
Defensible space is an area with limited combustibles surrounding your home that helps to reduce the chance that your home will catch fire during a wildfire event. Defensible space is up to 100 feet from your home and slows or stops the progression of wildfire. Defensible space, coupled with structural hardening, is critical to increasing your home’s likelihood of surviving a wildfire.
As the recovery efforts continue on Maui, this is a current list of resources available at the one-year anniversary of the Maui wildfires. Homeowners, business owners, public officials, as well as design and construction professionals can benefit from using the following wildfire resources in recovery efforts.
This Recovery Advisory, focused on one- and two-family dwellings, presents important fire safety recommendations for design professionals, including architects, engineers, installation professionals and contractors to reduce the likelihood of ignition and structure-to-structure fire spread in single family homes during a wildfire, where building setbacks and defensible space may be limited.
This document provides information on ways to reduce the vulnerability of residential structures to wildfire ignition due to windborne embers, hot gases, and flames penetrating common detailing joints and building component interfaces that exist throughout the exterior envelope of a building. This document provides information on measures that builders, contractors, and other design professionals can take to “seal” gaps at joints and retrofit building components and interfaces on the exterior surfaces. While the primary focus of this document is to provide guidance on retrofitting existing residential homes, many of the recommendations for increasing wildfire resiliency of common details, joint systems, and building component interfaces would also be applicable to new construction and commercial buildings
The objective of this MAT report is to provide actionable recommendations to improve residential building performance under wildfire conflagration conditions. It describes the MAT’s observations during the field deployments, draws conclusions based on those observations, and provides recommendations for actions that property owners can take to help increase the resiliency of their homes and neighborhoods to future wildfires. It also provides recommendations that local government officials, planners, builders, design professionals, and homeowners' associations can implement to reduce the potential impacts of wildfires on communities and improve their resilience.