Building Science Resource Library
The Building Science Resource Library contains all of FEMA’s hazard-specific guidance that focuses on creating disaster-resistance communities.
You can search for a document by its title, or filter the collection to browse by:
- Disaster Type: High winds, flood, earthquake, etc.
- Document Type: Brochure, report, fact sheet, infographic, etc.
- Audience: Building professionals & engineers, individuals & homeowners, teachers & kids, etc.
FEMA’s landmark study, “Building Codes Save: A Nationwide Study,” shows that modern building codes lead to major reduction in property losses from natural disasters. The FEMA report calculates losses from three types of natural hazard (earthquakes, flooding, and hurricane winds) for each state and Washington, D.C.
Repair of damaged buildings is critical for community recovery after earthquake disasters, and in turn, for overall resilience. NEHRP has had statutory requirements to use research results, new knowledge, and lessons learned evidence to support the preparation, maintenance, and wide dissemination of seismic resistant design guidance for more than 40 years. The 1998 FEMA 306, 307, 308 suite of guidance, Evaluation of Earthquake Damaged Concrete and Masonry Wall Buildings, provided a groundbreaking framework for detailed engineering assessments of residual strength in earthquake damaged concrete wall buildings and set the state of practice for seismic structural engineering in the US for more than 20 years. This new document provides the next-generation methodology for assessing and repairing earthquake-damaged buildings. Findings and research completed in New Zealand after the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake, as well as new information and an evolving understanding of the effects of damage to structural components that have experienced strong shaking and their residual capacities for future earthquakes, prompted a review and update of the original FEMA documents. The result defines more accurate way of determining when only cosmetic repairs are needed, structural repairs are required for safety, and repairs and retrofit are required for safety. This work was conducted by highly respected members of the seismic structural engineering communities in the United States and New Zealand and has the potential to significantly reduce a community’s recovery time and costs after an earthquake disaster.
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.
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.
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.
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 document provides homeowners with steps they can take now to protect their homes from loss or damage from wildfires due to vulnerabilities introduced by surrounding landscaping and other exterior features (e.g., outbuildings, sheds, furniture, and trash bins) within the homeowner’s property. The goal is to increase homeowner awareness of the key mechanisms and characteristics of WUI fires that can result in home ignition.
This document provides builders/contractors, planning professionals, HOAs, and local land resource managers with information about wildfire resiliency planning and open-space management policies, best practices, and procedures at subdivision- and neighborhood-scales. The intent is to prevent or limit the risk of wildfire exposures and impacts through various regulatory and policy approaches during planning and entitlement phases (e.g., fire risk assessments, wildfire impact studies, zoning, wildfire-protection planning), such that wildfire hazards and risks are appropriately considered early in the planning-design-construction life cycle of future developments.