Kopp said #Canadian building codes need to be updated to reflect the growing risk posed by tornadoes, and homebuilders should consider small investments to lessen the potential impact of a twister.
"20 yrs ago when we started talking about this, the only reaction we ever got was, 'You're crazy,'
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/tornado-alley-moving-to-ontario-quebec-experts-warn-1.6907140
#canada #cdnpoli #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #ontario #quebec #buildingcodes

@croselund This essay clearly articulates a super important point for focusing our efforts on climate. Building much more #wind and #solar, and reducing demand for #enduses of those fuels (e.g. via #EVs, #buildingcodes & #fuelswitching), are the most effective and require most of our effort. Stopping new pipelines or new wells, e.g. #willow or #MountainValleyPipeline, has little or no effect. Counteritive, and not understood by many or most activists, right? This Medium article explains why.

This is IRC's basic diagram of minimum clearances for a residential bathroom. In general, fixtures need 15" clearances from centerline of the fixture to adjacent surfaces, and 21" from the face, in front, 24" for showers.

This will yield you a minimum bathroom size of 5' x 7' if you use a standard tub. Easy to plan. Harder if you're laying out to the IBC instead of the IRC and you're trying to meet ADA.

#BuildingCodes #Residential #Bathrooms

@yakkoj you should rather hate #AmericanSuburbia and the passive-agressive violence committed by #BuildingCodes designed to commit socioeconomic segregation.

Because that's what it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr48ZxlYxOs

#buildingcodes #sustainableenergy #gascompanies #unconscionable
https://undark.org/2023/03/28/in-small-town-colorado-gas-interests-fight-electrification/?utm_source=Undark%3A+News+%26+Updates&utm_campaign=55c3b8773a-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5cee408d66-185e4e09de-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

Nice work from Jasmine Chiu: showing why it makes more sense to build EV charging at point of construction (when you can) rather than retrofit): https://americaisallin.com/colorados-newest-buildings-can-speed-ev-revolution

#WeBroughtCharts

#energymastodon
#EVcharging #buildingcodes

The movement for better #housing, more climate-adaptive housing, and more #familyfriendly #development is starting to make waves.

Today's episode of the Odd Lots podcast:

Why We Don't Build More Apartments for Families

This episode hits on a number of things:

1. #buildingcodes are a major driver of this (no point access blocks!)

2. thicker floor plates (massive FARs v. EU)

3. family-sized units run *significantly* larger in US (higher construction costs/rents)

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-we-dont-build-more-apartments-for-families/id1056200096?i=1000601790752

(While we’re on the subject: In the wake of the Turkey/Syria earthquake especially, I want to make it clear that despite my interest in #informal building practices and the self-provision of shelter, I *also* believe in #buildingcodes and some mechanism for upholding them. This is a profound challenge for anarchisms that propose to found themselves in care, and it’s worth extended collective consideration.)

' There is no way to prevent an earthquake from occurring, but what can be prevented – or at least curtailed – is the scale of the calamity caused by these inevitable tremors.

[Any] suggestion that a country cannot “be prepared” for an earthquake of the magnitude that hit Turkey and northern Syria is a political statement – that is, it reflects the political choices that were made rather than the science. '

#Turkiye #Turkey #SeismicRisk #BuildingCodes #earthquake

https://theconversation.com/earthquake-in-turkey-exposes-gap-between-seismic-knowledge-and-action-but-it-is-possible-to-prepare-199379

Thousands of lives might not have been lost had minimal construction standards been followed and enforced. https://apnews.com/article/politics-2023-turkey-syria-earthquake-government-istanbul-fbd6af578a6056569879b5ef6c55d322?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=RelatedStories&utm_campaign=position_03
#building #construction #architecture #engineering #buildingcodes

The science is irrefutable:
Building with fast-growing, carbon storing MATERIALS is far more important to reaching climate goals than constructing high-performance, super efficient buildings.

https://www.buildersforclimateaction.org/report---embarc-report.html

#passivhaus #passivehouse #architecture #buildingcodes #cop27 #netzero

I did notice the frequent lack of rebars (reinforcement steel) in the damaged or fallen buildings in the disaster photos.

"#Turkey has for years tempted fate by not enforcing modern construction codes while allowing — and in some cases, encouraging — a real estate boom in #earthquake-prone areas, experts say." | #TurkeyQuake #BuildingCodes

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/feb/10/earthquake-turkey-syria-2023-live-updates-latest-news-maps-quake-death-toll-international-aid-sanctions?page=with:block-63e5f76e8f0827de57491193#block-63e5f76e8f0827de57491193

This makes me livid:
"In Turkey, however, the government has provided periodic "construction amnesties" - effectively legal exemptions for the payment of a fee, for structures built without the required safety certificates. These have been passed since the 1960s (with the latest in 2018)."

Turkey #earthquake: Why did so many buildings collapse?
https://www.bbc.com/news/64568826
#Türkiye #Turkey #BuildingCodes

Just now something reminded me of a comic book I read many years ago, in which, after a battle against some supervillain, the heroes find some terrified people hiding. “Is it over? Oh, good. When you start fighting, it’s like a hurricane.”

Now I’m imagining the building codes that would be needed in a world of supers. “All buildings over three stories must be able to withstand laser beams, supersonic winds, and meteor impact.”

#superheroes #BuildingCodes

City of Aspen, #Colorado has just instituted some of the strictest #buildingcodes in the state. They include fire resistant siding, fire sprinklers, triple pane glazing and heat pumps.

https://coloradosun.com/2023/01/30/aspen-adopts-strict-residential-building-codes/?utm_source=The%20Colorado%20Sun%20Newsletters&utm_campaign=SUNRISER_20230130&utm_medium=email

Encouraging findings from survey of mayors from large US #cities about local #ClimateAction.

They correctly identify #BuildingCodes and #zoning as 2 of the most potent levers under their control!

They were excited about solar and EVs, however they were worried about backlash for banning gas stoves or making driving more expensive. We have to keep changing the politics here.

https://www.axios.com/2023/01/19/mayors-climate-change-electric-vehicles-gas-stoves

RT @MargeAnderson@twitter.com

Building performance standards recognize that building energy use IS a health and safety issue, bringing us clean air and a future for our children. #ClimateCrisis #buildings #realestate #buildingcodes https://twitter.com/NewBldgsInst/status/1600595588931883010

🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/MargeAnderson/status/1601306536231391232

RT @NewBldgsInst@twitter.com

Have you listened to our first official #podcast yet? Don't miss NBI Director of Codes, Kim Cheslak, talking about the relationship between building codes and existing building performance standards.

Catch it here➡️https://bit.ly/3hel5Zm

#BuildingCodes #EnergyTwitter

🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/NewBldgsInst/status/1600950847386558489

Have you listened to our first official #podcast yet? Don't miss NBI Director of Codes, Kim Cheslak, talking about the relationship between building codes and existing building performance standards.

Catch it here➡️https://bit.ly/3hel5Zm

#BuildingCodes #EnergyTwitter

"I noticed some white smoke at the south end of town and within 15 to 20 minutes, the whole town was engulfed in flame."

That would be Lytton, a town one drives past on the #TransCanadaHighway along the #FraserCanyon . Lots of #ForestFires anticipated in BC this year.

Why don't building codes require more fire-resistant housing in such areas? Just banning asphalt shingle roofs would probably be helpful.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-wildfires-lytton-july-1-2021-1.6087311

#Lytton #BuildingCodes
#bcpol
#CBC