By Ray Birch
CINCINNATI—Could a credit union construct a disaster-proof building? What if the budget were no object? What might it look like? And is there anything close to such a structure already built?
With the rash of natural and manmade disasters that struck credit unions in every region of the country, including wildfires, flooding, heavy snowstorms, hurricanes and more, CUToday.info put those questions to the experts—and gave them a limitless budget!
According to two people, yes, such a disaster-proof structure could most likely be built, but it wouldn’t be pretty and, thank goodness for the open-ended budget, it would be expensive.
“I would say it would be a building that would be comprised largely of concrete and steel; that would be the bulk of the construction,” said Jamie Case, EVP of construction at design/build firm DEI. “There will not be a single soft spot in the building, just hard surfaces.”
Jamie Case
That would include masonry for exterior walls, Case said.
“I would just say stick with concrete, masonry steel,” Case emphasized. “Even if it gets hot, not incredibly hot, it’s not going to melt. For the roof structure, it would be fire-rated and we would keep that to a metal bar joist flat roof with fireproof insulation. That's where I'd start. It wouldn't look pretty but it would get the job done. It would be a tank.”
What’s on the Inside
But that’s just the exterior. Inside such a building, Sean Pence, design manager at DEI, said what could be seen through the hurricane-code windows woiuld fire resistant materials.
“We're seeing a lot of acoustic materials that are fire-rated. To address flooding, we're seeing a lot more flooring that can have moisture come up through (it) so mold and mildew can’t grow, and also withstand the flood itself,” said Pence.
Tom Kennedy, president of Milwaukee-based design/build firm La Macchia Group, contends no building could ever truly fit the challenge CUToday.info outlined.
“Nothing is disaster proof. Because there's such a diversity in disasters, you'd fix up a building for one kind of disaster and probably leave yourself at times exposed to another,” he explained. “Nothing could survive a bad earthquake if you happen to be in the wrong spot at the wrong time. The earthquake would destroy almost anything.”
Where to Start
But Kennedy said what can be done in attempting to make a building as disaster-proof as possible would have to start with design and construction aimed at making the building virtually waterproof and sound enough to withstand almost any storm.
Tom Kennedy
“We've seen it's just very expensive to do that, but it is possible,” Kennedy said. “The Miami-Dade (Florida) code that is particularly applicable to hospitals is so rigorous in this regard that those hospitals are incredibly fortified to withstand storms. That's probably pretty close to the highest standard of construction.”
As for the building itself, Kenney explained, ““I’d go with a structural steel system, which is just much more robust. It will withstand many, many more pounds of side load and wind load than a normal building. It's just very stiff. Then any material that is applied to that building is attached with many more connectors. The number of connections you're making, as you might imagine, from that building shell material to that structure means that shell material now cannot be moved. It's absolutely rigid and in place.”
A Building to ‘Sleep Through’
Kennedy is also in favor of precast concrete and glass panels to allow light in but keep trouble out.
“Those materials are built in a manner so they can withstand a lot,” Kenndy said, noting those types of materials are often tested to withstand the impact of a two-by-four flying through the air at a high velocity. “Then, the roof is mechanically fastened in a manner that it has many more connections, so if the wind tries to suck the roof off it literally can't do that. It's just a matter of redundant connections and extremely beefy structural systems that are all anchored into the ground in a much heavier, more solid foundation system that resists overturn from the wind and movement of any kind. Believe me, that's the building you want to sleep through during a hurricane.”