What Are Our Expectations, Objectives, and Performance Requirements for Wood Structures in High Wind Regions?

Abstract

In response to tremendous losses in recent storms, there have been considerable efforts to place the design of wood-frame structures built in hurricane-prone regions on an engineering basis. It is assumed that the transition from a prescriptive design basis to an engineered design basis, and perhaps back to an improved (deemed-to-comply) prescriptive design basis, will lead to improvements in the performance of wood-frame construction in high wind regions. As advances have been made in this area, a number of disconnects between the expectations and objectives of the owners, builders, engineers, and insurers have been identified. Drawing on the writers’ experience, the purpose of this paper is to highlight some of these mismatched expectations, objectives, and performance requirements.