New HUD Guides for Builders Help Increase the Resilience of Homes

Resiliency
Published
Contact: Gary Ehrlich
[email protected]
Director, Construction Codes & Standards
(202) 266-8545

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently published a series of guides, Designing for Natural Hazards: A Resilience Guide for Builders & Developers, to help home builders incorporate resilience in their home designs.

The guides were authored by Home Innovation Research Labs with technical assistance from NAHB members and staff.

The United States spends billions of dollars annually helping communities recover from natural disasters caused by wildfires, hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, blizzards and other natural hazards. To reduce the impacts associated with these natural hazard events, federal agencies, including HUD, pursue initiatives to improve the resilience of housing, including the development of technical guidance.

Home Innovation Research Labs was tasked by HUD to convene a technical advisory group of industry stakeholders including builders, architects, structural engineers and building officials charged with developing a set of practical, cost-effective guidelines to assist home builders and developers in designing and constructing residential buildings and structures to improve their resistance to natural hazards and promote community resiliency.

The resilience guides provide technical content in a straightforward way that is easy to understand, while also providing full details for design professionals, builders, developers and public officials. The guides can be used for new construction, retrofits and remodeling, and post-disaster repair and reconstruction.

The guide comprises five volumes, each focusing on a major category of natural hazard that may impact a given project:

The technical advisory group recognized that natural hazards are more likely to cause certain types of damage. To address this, the guidelines provide a mitigation strategy that prioritizes high-frequency damage as identified in post-event damage assessments over damage that rarely occurs. This novel approach encourages improving those elements of a house that are most susceptible to damage and can be used to leverage disaster mitigation grants intended to reduce future damage to our housing stock.

Former NAHB Chairman Randy Noel served as the chair of the technical advisory group, which included many prominent NAHB members. Additional NAHB members and staff also served on the task groups for each guide.

Subscribe to NAHBNow

Log in or create account to subscribe to notifications of new posts.

Log in to subscribe

Latest from NAHBNow

Economics

Oct 08, 2025

How Do Median Square-Foot Prices Differ by Region?

Median square-foot prices for new single-family detached homes started in 2024 grew modestly, according to NAHB’s analysis of the latest Survey of Construction data. See how they differ by region.

Member Benefits | Membership

Oct 07, 2025

Tax Incentives That Multiply the Benefits of NAHB's Vehicle Savings Programs

Combining the benefits of Section 179 tax deductions with the discounts offered through the NAHB Member Savings Program can be a game-changer for business owners.

View all

Latest Economic News

Economics

Oct 07, 2025

Minority-Owned Residential Building Firms Continue to Rise

The share of minority-owned new residential builders and remodelers has more than doubled since the Great Recession, with noticeable gains from 2017 to 2022. Nevertheless, when compared to the overall U.S. population, minority-owned firms continue to be underrepresented within both housing sectors.

Economics

Oct 06, 2025

Shorter Apartment Construction Time in 2024

The average time needed to complete construction of a multifamily building after obtaining authorization edged down in 2024, according to the 2024 Survey of Construction (SOC) from the Census Bureau. On average, it took 19.6 months from permit to completion, about 0.3 months shorter than in 2023.

Economics

Oct 03, 2025

Supply-Side Cost Pressures Drove Housing as Inflation Leader in 2024

Though the rate of inflation peaked in June 2022, consumer prices continued to increase throughout 2023 and 2024 as inflation drove further price growth, according to 2024 CPI review from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.