New HUD Guides for Builders Help Increase the Resilience of Homes
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:
- Designing for Natural Hazards Series Volume 1: Wind
- Designing for Natural Hazards Series Volume 2: Water
- Designing for Natural Hazards Series Volume 3: Fire
- Designing for Natural Hazards Series Volume 4: Earth
- Designing for Natural Hazards Series Volume 5: Auxiliary (volcanoes, temperature extremes, etc.)
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.
Latest from NAHBNow
Safety
Jul 17, 2026
Keep Workers Safe from Wildfire Smoke on JobsitesWith wildfires raging across Ontario, Canada and smoke impacting huge areas of the Northeast and upper Midwest in the U.S., it is important to know the effects wildfire smoke can have across the country, even if you are not in an area that is at risk for wildfires.
Economics
Jul 17, 2026
Multifamily Gains Lift Overall Starts Despite Single-Family DeclineOverall housing starts increased 19% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.43 million units, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau.
Latest Economic News
Economics
Jul 17, 2026
Multifamily Gains Lift Overall Starts Despite Single-Family DeclineStrong multifamily growth pushed overall housing starts higher in June, while single-family production remained sluggish as elevated mortgage rates, rising construction costs and persistent labor shortages continued to weigh on the market.
Economics
Jul 16, 2026
Builder Sentiment Stays Weak as Affordability Concerns PersistEconomic uncertainty and persistent affordability challenges driven by rising material prices, high land costs, and elevated mortgage rates continue to weigh on builder sentiment.
Economics
Jul 15, 2026
Building Material Prices Continue to Rise Despite Energy Price DeclinesResidential building material prices, excluding energy, rose 0.5% in June and were up 4.6% from a year ago. Lower energy prices were apparent in June, as energy input prices fell 10.3% over the month. Meanwhile, prices for services rose 5.2% over the year, and were up 1.0% from the previous month.