Building experts want home buyers and developers to know that it is possible to build more resilient homes that are likely to withstand extreme weather.
Though most U.S. homes are not currently built to endure such extreme situations as hurricanes, flooding or wildfires, the technology is getting there, according to experts cited by Bloomberg. According to them, buyers and owners just need to know to ask for those features.
For example, a more secure roof–unlikely to fly off in a hurricane–would cost about $1,000. Concrete-framed homes, most likely to weather any extreme event without collapsing, costs about 15 percent more than a wood frame. Finally, rounded-shaped buildings will disperse wind more evenly around the structure.
“Developers say that the market isn’t asking for those things,” Jeremy Gregory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology building and sustainability researcher, told Bloomberg. “Part of that is people not being aware that these are the types of things they can ask for.”
Data shows extreme weather and climate change is beginning to effect home prices. [Bloomberg]—Erin Hudson