Every day it seems more extreme weather conditions are affecting our environment and our personal lives. Climate change is upon us, and all we have to do is look around us to what is happening in real time. More floods, more and stronger hurricanes, more and stronger tornadoes happening in all seasons, and more devastating forest fires.

If you happen to live in any of the areas most dramatically affected by these events, it's time pay attention and do what you can to prepare and protect yourself and your loved ones. You can't control the weather, but many of you can change what is most essential to protect you and your loved ones.... your shelter.

You can learn from this website how unsafe it is to build a home with sticks, but for some who live in extreme weather prone areas, it is going to take more than just building your home with concrete and timber frame.

Here are a few examples of how we can help you build your extreme weather resistant home.

Flood-Resistant Homes

We never advocate building in a flood plain or even in area that may be close to one, but we understand there are circumstances when people have to build there for various reasons. If you find yourself in that situation, we can help. We may be able to help you design your Superior Home to withstand most floods. If we determine we can design a home to withstand local flooding, then we will help you get engineering to have your project approved. Most of our flood-resistant engineering will be limited to 10 feet above desiginated flood plain.

This School was designed to withstand flooding. It was built in the French Broad River flood plain near Asheville, North Carolina. We did not build this school, but this is an example of how we could design and build a structure to withstand flood conditions.

This photo was taken the day after Hurricane Helene ravaged Western North Carolina. Flood waters were still raging.

This photograph was taken one week later, after the flood waters had receeded. The building was still intact.

Tornadoes

It is apparent that we are having stronger tornadoes. What is also alarming is that the tornadoes are coming in all seasons, rather than just in the spring and summer as was ususal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_outbreak_of_December_10%E2%80%9311,_2021

What makes tornadoes so deadly are the extreme winds, often over 200 miles per hour, and the fact that many of them occur at night when people are in bed. Our warning systems are archaic and don't give enough time for most people in the tornado path to evacuate.

Shelter in place is your best option.

If you live in an area prone to tornadoes, it is vitally important that you build your home for ultimate protection. Our standard concrete and timber frame shells in many cases will be adequate protection if you secure windows and doors with storm proof shutters and use extra tie down measures to secure the timber frame roof to the concrete walls.

However to be totally safe and secure, we highly recommend that your build your home as an earth berm structure. One side can be totally out of the ground to provide an easy entrance and adequate natural light. The windows and doors will need to be protected, of course, but you will in all likelihood be safe from extreme high winds.

The earth is your insulation and your protection against wind and debris. Our insulated and waterproof concrete walls provide the structure to keep the elements out. Our timber frame and SIP panels hold the weight of the earth off the roof. We can also design your roof with concrete, creating an even stronger structure.