Engineering
As the illusion of ever-increasing complexities and danger is amplified by 24 hour news and the apocalyptic shows on Discovery and the History Channel some may wonder if they need to better protect themselves in their own homes.
Can one’s own home be a safe haven during the worst of storms?
In 2004 and 2005 US was hit by several hurricanes and we saw (or experienced) the destruction of these events. Homes today are being built by high structural standards – however they are designed, in reality, for wind events that occur in mid-sized hurricanes. Get a really big storm (a Category 4 or 5) and all bets are off.
Beyond evacuation and other very wise precautions, you can still provide for a way to get to safety in your own home by building what is called a safe room.. These are sometimes called storm shelters.
A safe room is a small windowless room that has been strengthened to resist the effects of wind pressures and the impact from windborne debris generated by extremely severe weather. These are becoming rather common in Florida and other hurricane state.
A relatively cheap storm shelter can provide you and your family with a sense of security knowing that there is a space in your home that will withstand the forces of the worst hurricanes. These can also act as tornado shelters.
What is a safe room? It is usually a small space within the home that has special walls, ceilings, fastening systems and doors and are (to use an engineering term) really, really strong They can serve the vital purpose of providing safety for you and your lovelies during those scary events.
I’ve designed a few myself for folks who value the room’s existence even if they never actually use it. Seems a lot like insurance, doesn’t it?
These rooms can be separate or can be some part of the home, like a walk-in closet, which is built like the proverbial brick stink house. They need to be isolated from the main structure so that as the main home becomes unglued and turns into countless fragments, this little oasis of space remains unscathed.
The best way to do this, above ground, is to build a concrete storm shelter with walls that are reinforced masonry, with all the cells (the holes in the concrete block that you have seen) filled with reinforcing bars and concrete. Generally we form and pour concrete slab roof over top. This can be relatively inexpensive do to if you are building your home – it is easy to work into the structure.
One of my clients had me design his master walk-in closet and bathroom into a safe room. Its ceiling was designed to be concrete and rest just below the bottom chord of the trusses. The trusses could blow off and basically the entire home could collapse yet he and his family would remain safe.
Any structural engineer can design such as space for you. FEMA has a great guideline called FEMA320A “Taking Shelter from the Storm: Building a Safe Room inside your house”.
Of course, we can’t nor should we worry all the time. Life has its inherent risks. But, like insurance, a safe room can offer peace of mind – even if you never really use it.
Energy is heat. Saving energy is mostly about heat management. Let’s cover 10 basic actions to reduce energy usage in your home. These apply to new construction and existing residences.
First, some basic science:
A. Heat energy flows from hot to cold. Its speed of flow increases as the difference between temperatures increases
B. Heat flow is reduced by insulation.
C. Heat can be pumped in the opposite direction – from cold to hot. Air conditioners and heat pumps do this. Pumping heat is cheaper than created heat – about 1/3 the cost or less..
D. Any heat that enters your home during the summer must be removed by your air conditioner.
E. The green-house effect is like a one-way check valve which allows heat to enter but not leave. Heat from sunlight must be stopped before it passes through the glass – not after.
F. Passive operation just happens by its nature. It requires no energy.
Okay – so based upon these simple rules, here are 10 basic actions that will improve a home’s energy efficiency which will save you money. I’ll mention the rule and then what you can do:
1. Rule B - Insulate your home to the max. Few actions will give you a better cost to benefit ratio. This is also passive (rule F).
2. Rules D and E - Large overhangs – this reduces sunlight into the home which would have to be removed. This is passive (rule F).
3. Rules D and E - Reduce or block windows on the western side. If you are designing a new home this can be easy. This is passive (rule F)
4. Rule E - Use reflective glass. Shades and curtains will not work. They will heat up yet not pass the heat back out the window. Your air conditioner will have to remove that heat. You must stop the heat before it goes through the glass. This is a passive method and will save you lots of energy and money in the summer time.
5. Rule A - Place foil on the bottom of the plywood roof sheathing of your home. This is easiest to do while building a new home. If your home exists, then consider a radiation barrier in the attic. This will keep the attic cooler. This is also passive (rule F)
6. Rule A – Ventilate the attic. This can be passive or active. It reduces the attic temperature which slows the flow of heat into your home. The active, but effective, way is with a powered fan system which operates only at high attic temperatures. An advantage is that this will not operate in the winter when you DO want heat flow into your home. The passive method of ventilation is by effective venting that operates when the wind blows. This is excellent in the hotter states. This requires good air flow both into the attic and out of the attic.
7. Rules A and B - Place the air conditioning ductwork inside the cooled space of the home – not the hot attic. This reduces the heat that flows into the ductwork which eases the work load of the air conditioning system. This is easiest done in new construction. it can be also be done by wrapping insulation on top of the ductwork and not placing any between the duct and the interior of the home thus thermally connecting the duct to the inside temperature. This is also passive (rule F).
8. Rule D - Water heaters should be outside of any air conditioned space. They leak heat. If they leak heat into the home then the air conditioner has to remove it. This action is passive.
9. Rule D - Dryers, ideally, should be outside air conditioned space for the same reason as water heaters. This action is passive (rule F)
10. Rule C - Most water heaters heat their water by running electricity through coils. As an alternative heat can be pumped into the water less expensively. One way to do this is to route the heat being pumped out of your home straight into the water heater. This has multiple advantages. It even works in the winter because the heat being pumped from the cold air outside (this is how a heat pump works) can be used, in part, to heat the water. Per Rule C, pumped heat is cheaper than created heat.
Considering the basic rules you can think of your own ideas of ways to save energy and money.
Remember, it is all about the heat.
- Stock plans can save time in selecting a home. Since the designs are done and there for your review, you can select quickly and save time. Usually the plans are displayed as floor plans and exterior views. Depending on the catalog you may get just one front view, and sometimes you'll be able to see a few other views to help you understand the design. It's a mail-order solution. Mail-order items ha If you are considering purchasing stock plans from an internet site or from a book, make sure you are aware of what you are getting and its value to your project.
"Stock Plans" are construction plans which you can order from magazines, catalogs or the internet. Some builders also offer stock plans. These kinds of plans are not custom but can still be an excellent way to start off your construction project.
Stock plans can certainly be a great way to obtain construction plans. However, to many, the custom nature of building a home demands nothing less than a fully custom home design. Many would never consider using a predesigned set of plans.
Stock plans have their pros and cons. Let's take a look at each:
Pros:
- Stock plans can be less expensive. Prices for a set of plans can be a thousand bucks - or less. The plans are listed like a menu and the prices for the plans are clearly posted. Once you've decided on a plan it is an easy process of clicking and buying. You choose the form of the drawing and the quantity.
ve been part of our culture for a long time - from mail-order brides, to mail order kit-houses from Sears.
- Stock plans are usually collections from a variety of viewpoints. This can be stimulating as you browse through the plans and views. You'll find "new" ideas that you likely have not considered before.
- Stock plans catalogs can kick-start your imagination. They can get the creative juices flowing. Stock plans can truly be a valuable launching point to explore new ideas.
Cons:
- Stock plans are usually not ready for permitting. If submitted for permits without additional actions they will likely be rejected.
- It is quite common today that building departments will require that the plans be sealed by an Engineer or Architect. It is a good idea that you check with your local building department to see what the requirements are. The process of getting plans stamped is not an easy one. Professional Engineers and Registered Architects go through years of college, internships and testing to acquire their licenses and are expected to take responsibility for the plans being up to Code and sufficient. Many, if not most, will require a re-draw or, at a minimum, several revisions and additions to bring the plans up to standards. Their fees will depend upon what they do for you, but it can run quite a bit more than the original plans. This will also add time to the process thus reducing the time advantage of stock plans.
- Some revisions are inevitable. Because the plans are not customized for you it is rare that you will not see things you want to change. This can be expensive because most of the stock plan companies are not set up for individualized attention.
- Stock-Plans are considered by some to be reused plans. This might or might not be important - but if you are looking for a home that is as unique as you and as customized as the building process is itself, stock plans might not be the best way.
- Stock plans are designed for mass-appeal, like cars and other consumer goods. This is beneficial for factory created goods because its the only way there can be duplication of efforts which save us money. But home building is quite different from manufacturing in a factory. Home building is done stick by stick in the field. It is always custom. Some would consider using a mass market home plan for a custom building job would be like custom building car and ending up with a Ford Taurus. What's the point?
- Homes in our country have a wide variety of needs specific to the area. Stock plans try to adapt themselves to all these area. Areas of the country have snow requirements, basements, high winds, earthquakes, cold and hot temperatures as well as many other factors that are unique to each. Also certain types of building systems will be prominent in certain areas. Generic plans can't cover all the possibilities. You will also find that the local tradesmen can easily identify the stock plans and sometimes ready themselves for problems - though increasing their prices.
Local builders' stock plans will usually side step many of these problems. They will generally be ready for permits and will be recognized locally. You combine this with the builder's ability to have the plans modified for you and this can work quite well. They may not be entirely custom, but still be an excellent way to begin.
In summary, stock plans are valuable for study and education and are fertile source of ideas. They, however, will likely turn out not as inexpensive as you first think, or as quick, and certainly will not be something designed exclusively for you.
Having a professional working for and with you to develop a custom design based upon your ideas, your notions, and various ideas you have collected from many sources, as well as his or her experienced creativity will allow you to take full advantage the truly custom nature of building a home.
Remember, home Building is the only industry which remains truly custom in nature - the designs should be as well.
