Habitat for Resilience

Habitat for Humanity has a long and respected history of working with families to build homes they could not otherwise afford. So it is with great excitement that the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) has partnered with Habitat for Humanity in London, Ontario to make affordable housing more resilient to weather extremes. ICLR has teamed with Habitat for Humanity London on three homes currently being built in the city’s east end.

The first home, called the CAW Hammer of Hope build, was constructed in the high-profile parking lot of the John Labatt Centre in downtown London during a week-long blitz build in August 2010. It was subsequently moved to its current, permanent location on the property of a former biker gang clubhouse. The two-bedroom bungalow will become home to a mother and daughter. Beside this home, a duplex is currently being built to house two other families. These homes are the most energy-efficient homes ever built by Habitat London.

Due to a new partnership with ICLR, they are also now the most disaster-resilient. As reported in the August 2010 issue of Canadian Underwriter, ICLR has made three submissions to the current Ontario Building Code update process; each of these changes to construction is showcased in the three new Habitat for Humanity London homes.

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

Habitat for Humanity’s homeownership program helps families in financially vulnerable situations build and buy quality affordable homes by reducing the barriers to homeownership. Habitat sells the homes to the homeowner with no down payment, an interest-free mortgage and monthly payments set at a maximum of 30% of their gross income. The program gives families access to affordable housing while allowing them to build equity to help themselves escape the cycle of poverty.

Habitat keeps the costs of new homes down by using modest designs, donated materials, volunteer labour and reinvesting mortgage payments from other homeowners back into the program. Homeowners put in at least 500 hours of “sweat equity” into the construction of the home and participate in homeownership preparation sessions. More than 50,000 people have volunteered with Habitat for Humanity Canada — including professional tradespeople donating their time and expertise, as well as first-time homebuilders looking to contribute to their community while learning about residential construction.

The Habitat for Humanity London affiliate was established in 1993. It has since built 24 homes. The organization will complete 10 housing projects in 2010, including local builds and renovations as well as two builds in Bolivia. This is the organization’s most ambitious year to date. Since ICLR is affiliated with the University of Western Ontario in London, working with Habitat London is a great opportunity for community partnership and a chance to advance the work of both organizations.

BUILDING TO A NEW CODE

All new construction and renovations in Canada must satisfy the requirements of the building code used in each province. Building codes exists to ensure buildings are well constructed and safe for the occupants in everyday conditions as well as during more extreme conditions such as severe weather. Building codes are unique in different regions of the country due to local climate differences, local weather and local soil conditions. For instance, building codes are more demanding of earthquake-resilient construction measures in British Columbia and more demanding of wind resilience in Atlantic Canada.

In Ontario, two primary hazards are water and wind damage. A stronger building code focusing on mitigating the effects of these hazards could reduce their human and economic costs. ICLR has therefore made three submissions to the Ontario Building Code update process in order to make the new code stronger. Each submission is based on the research findings of engineering professors at the University of Western Ontario and recommendations of experts within Canada’s property and casualty insurance industry. Submissions have been made to the Building Code update process; they are currently subject to a detailed review process and comments from other construction industry groups before they are accepted or rejected. ICLR’s recommended changes to the building code include:

• hurricane straps on wall-roof connections in the garage;

• nail spacing of 6″ instead of 12″ on roof sheathing; and

• backwater valve on sanitary sewer lateral.

ICLR’s first submission is that the roof trusses in a garage that is attached to the front or side of a house be connected to the wall studs using hurricane straps. In the Habitat London homes, this was taken a step further: hurricane straps connecting roof trusses to wall studs were installed throughout the entire home. Hurricane straps are designed to keep the roof connected to the walls in the event of wind loading and uplift on the roof. When windows or doors break, internal pressure in the house can change and dramatically increase the uplift on the roof. Keeping the roof securely down prevents rain from entering the house, which can greatly increase damage costs. Also, it prevents debris from entering the wind field, which causes downwind damage. Much of the damage caused by the 2009 Vaughan tornadoes was due to roofs not being properly connected to the walls of the homes.

The second building code submission is that nail spacing should be six inches instead of 12 inches on roof sheathing. Studies undertaken at the Insurance Research Lab for Better Homes at the University of Western Ontario indicate that decreasing the spacing of nails that fasten the roof sheathing from 12″ to 6″ would increase the uplift capacity of each roof panel by 100%.The code currently requires maximum spacing of 6″ along panel edges and 12″ along intermediate supports. This spacing schedule results in 33 nails per typical sheet of 4’x8′ roof panel. Decreasing spacing to 6″ throughout the entire panel increases the number of nails used from 33 to 45 (only 12 nails), while doubling the uplift capacity of the sheathing.

The third submission is the installation of a mainline, open-port backwater valve directly into the sanitary sewer lateral. The backwater valve serves to reduce the risk of sewer backup entering the home through the basement floor drain or other plumbing fixtures. Municipalities are increasingly adopting backwater valves as one tool in the basement flood reduction tool kit. ICLR believes the requirement of backwater valves on all new homes vulnerable to sewer backup will significantly reduce urban flood damages across Canada.

DECENT, AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Each of the three submissions made by ICLR to the Ontario building code update process is showcased in the three homes currently being built by Habitat for Humanity in London. In addition, hurricane straps were installed throughout the entire home rather than in just the garage. Steel-braided hoses were installed on all plumbing fixtures in order to reduce the risk of pipe-burst water damage. Based on insurance industry experience, steel-braided or armoured hoses are much more durable and less likely to crack or break than the standard rubber or plastic hoses.

The total cost of the four construction improvements is less than a few hundred dollars per house. This includes all of the materials including hurricane straps, additional nails, backwater valve and plumbing hoses. Of course, the cost of the materials will decrease as the quantity purchased increases, making these improvements even more attractive on a larger scale.

By combining our expertise, ICLR and Habitat for Humanity have applied engineering research findings and insurance industry experience to make much-needed housing in London meet construction standards that will significantly reduce disaster losses. Habitat’s mission to provide decent, affordable housing is well matched with ICLR’s mission to create safe and resilient communitie s. Exciting possibilities lie ahead for these two organizations to continue to work together.

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Habitat’s mission to provide decent, affordable housing is well-matched with ICLR’s mission to create safe and resilient communities.