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Our Solution |
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Building Codes & Green Architecture |
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Minimizing Flood and Wind Damages Flood Damage While there is a constant threat of flooding in New Orleans, there have been relatively few floods in New Orleans. Between Hurricane Camille in 1969 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, both of caused major damage, there have only been 3 significant hurricane-related floods within the three and half decades period. Floods from the Mississippi River is also a risk; however, we believe that with the levee system designed by Team 3 and adjustments for the Mississippi River system designed by Team 9, the chance of a large flood from the Mississippi River is relatively small. Because flooding does not happen on an annual or even a two year basis, we believe that it is unnecessary and impractical to require expensive flood-proof buildings for a largely low-income city. Instead, we want to create practical building codes that will minimize the damage caused by flood and wind. We have found that the 1.5 feet Base Flood Elevation requirements mandated by FEMA are relatively inconsequential for protecting homes on a year to year basis. The most recent flood before Hurricane Katrina was on May 8th, 1995 when certain areas of New Orleans flooded as much as 19 inches as a result of rain, not a tropical storm (Marcus, 1995. pA18). While certain buildings may have been protected by the required 1.5 feet elevation, most of the buildings were not even protected because over 90% of the houses in New Orleans were built before 1984 (GNOCDC, 2000). New Orleans flooded not as a result of levee overtopping or breaches but because water could not be pumped out of the city quickly enough. However, floods result of rain only happen on average every 10 years. The two floods before May 8th, 1995 in the 1980s and 1970s were not as severe as the flood in 1995. A 1.5 feet base flood elevation costs on average over $40,000 per house for already existing homes (FOX News, 2006. par 19). Because of the spaced out occurrence between the recent floods, we believe that even for building a new house the cost for raising houses 1.5 feet or more above ground level and for enforcement of that code outweighs the benefits of preventing minor damages in small floods. Post-Katrina, FEMA has mandated a 3 feet BFE for homes in New Orleans. Raising a home by three feet raises the cost of building the home by $48,000 for already existing homes (FOX New, 2006. par. 19). By the same argument against 1.5 BFE cost-benefit arguments, we believe that the three feet BFE is not a practical solution for the people of New Orleans and their homes. Even against larger floods like the ones against Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Camille, which flooded the city by up to, the three feet was completely inconsequential in protecting homes against flood. The Base Flood Elevation will not benefit the people in the city of New Orleans enough to justify the continuation of this law. Instead of raising the buildings by 1.5 or 3 feet which fails to minimize damage or protect houses against floods, we propose a First Floor Plan establish a way to greatly reduce the damage that can be done to a family’s property. The First Floor Plan will limit the amount of furniture and belongings on the first floor of home. We recommended homeowner to either turn the first flood into mainly a garage or if they choose to make the first floor into a living room, to use tiles or hardwood floor instead of carpeting. We hope that through this plan will minimize a household’s losses caused by flood. To enforce this plan, we will enforce a $5,000 cap on the amount that NFIP will reimburse the homeowner for his belongings on the first floor. If the homeowner chooses to put more than $5,000 dollar value, he/she will still only be reimbursed $5,000. While this may seem harsh, it will limit the amount of losses for each household by discouraging placing expensive items on the first floor. This plan does not “raise” the house by 10 feet, but will minimize the amount of damage done to the house for up to 10 feet of flooding. Since homeowner’s do not have to elevate their houses, we believe that this plan is economically practical. We also believe that this plan is practical given the rarity of floods especially with improvement of levees to withstand up to Category 5 storms. Wind Damage Wind damage from Hurricane Katrina affected most of the homes in New Orleans. According to FEMA’s HAZUS Hurricane model analyzed by Louisiana State University Hurricane Center, more than 80% of houses in New Orleans reported at least minor damage, which is defined by “maximum of one broken window, door or garage door. Moderate roof cover..Marks or dents on walls requiring painting or patching for repair” (LSU, 2005. 3). Their study was conducted with FEMA’s HAZUS Hurricane model. We strongly recommend but will not required the suggestions given by LSU Hurricane Center: · Protection of Building Openings Windows and doors are the weak spots in the wall envelope. Requiring debris impact resistant windows and doors or debris impact protective coverings (shutters) prevents most window and door failures. This helps keep the wind and rain out of the building, reducing structural damage, damage to finishes, and damage to contents. · Improved Roof Sheathing Attachment Better attachment of the plywood or OSB roof sheathing to the roof structure through appropriate fasteners and closer fastener spacing helps prevent sections of the roof deck from being lifted off by the wind. This reduces progressive failures and wind and water from penetrating the building envelope. · Improved Roof-Wall Connections Installation of metal ‘hurricane clips’ or’ hurricane straps’ provides a continuous load path from the roof to the foundation, helping prevent catastrophic roof uplift failures. · Secondary Waterproofing to Roof Joints Sealing the joints between the sheets of roof decking provides a second line of defense against roof leaks, even if the roof coverings are damaged or destroyed. (LSU, 2005. 6) Since employing these recommendations will reduce the insurance rates, we feel that these codes do not need to be actively enforced through inspections. For households who would to but cannot afford to build their homes with these recommendations, loans for remodeling are available to them through FEMA. We feel that these recommendations practical for homes in New Orleans and can significantly reduce damage to the home itself and all surrounding homes. Green Architecture/Technology & Energy Codes We want to promote New Orleans as a “Green New Orleans, Garden City”. This |
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Source: LSU Hurricane Center |