Green Building Practices for Residential Construction and Natural Hazard Resistance: How Are They Linked?

Building green has become more common as the nation focuses on achieving energy savings and other environmental goals. As such, green building practices are increasingly being incorporated into residential building design and construction. As green building continues to gain popularity in the residential market, home designers, builders and code officials will increasingly be faced with making decisions concerning how to apply green building practices while not compromising other performance goals, including resistance to natural hazards. the authors explain how some green practices for residential construction provide improved environmental performance without any effect on structural performance. By comparison, others may require a reevaluation of the entire design in order to retain the home's integrity and building functions in natural hazard events. The article offers a chart of common green building practices and their relationship to seismic, flood, wind and wildfire hazards.