Wind Resistance and Hurricane Ready Technical Details

Deltec homes are extremely resilient, withstanding storm after storm. The round shape, radial roof and floor truss systems, material excellence, and our focus on the critical connections tying your home together and to the foundation offer an inherently resistant structure to high wind and seismic forces. Structural upgrades available through our 360° Signature Collection or 360° Design Studio allow our homes to meet strict local wind design speeds. We refer to our homes as “Hurricane Ready”, which means that our designs are engineered for, and our panelized structure is reinforced to withstand, wind speeds for your personal site conditions. It is important to note, however, that no residential home, including those designed by Deltec, can be guaranteed to be “hurricane proof”.

Hurricane Ready Features of the 360° Signature Collection.

The design wind speed requirements for a specific location and exposure category are governed by local building codes. The base 360° Signature shell packages are designed for ultimate wind speeds up to 130 miles per hour, which is more than adequate for a large portion of the country.  Yet Deltec has a long history of our round homes surviving some of the toughest storms, and the 360° Signature Collection offers offers three levels of wind upgrades that can reinforce plans up to 190 miles per hour design wind speed.
Hurricane Ready Chart
The 360° Signature High Wind Package upgrade options can reinforce your plan for wind speeds up to 190 miles per hour. Features of the three high wind upgrade levels include: Level One: For locations with design wind speeds up to 160 miles per hour. (Appropriate for most non-coastal locations in the US with upgraded wind risk, including interior Florida.) Adds the following features to your 360° Signature package:
  • A 2nd tension collar added to our unique self-supporting roof system to counter wind uplift
  • Additional structural hardware, such as metal tie strapping and hold downs, to provide a strong continuous load path to the foundation
  • ¾” CDX roof sheathing for a more durable roof deck
  • Peel & stick roofing underlayment to provide a sealed roof deck to prevent wind and water intrusion
  • Structural Engineering Seals for your plan if required. Deltec will coordinate this engineering process with one of our 3rd party engineers. (Note that Structural Engineering Seal requirements vary by local building departments. If you are unsure if engineering is required in your area, our Deltec staff will work with you to help determine your local requirements.)
  • This package removes our built-in exterior rigid foam insulation package, in order to allow more secure nailing of siding to the structure following siding manufacturer’s recommendations This changes the energy modeling used for Net-Zero Ready design. Signature homes with the Level 1 high wind package are still designed to be capable of achieving Zero Energy Ready Home target HERS scores up to US climate zone 4. (Learn more about net-zero ready)
Level Two: For locations with wind speeds up to 170 miles per hour, including locations directly on the coast which may require impact resistant window glass. (Appropriate for most areas on the coast in the US.) Includes all of the upgrades in Level One, plus:
  • Impact-resistant window package
  • Note that impact-resistant window glass changes the energy modeling used for Net-Zero Ready design. Signature homes with the level 2 high wind package are still designed to be capable of achieving Zero Energy Ready Home target HERS scores up to US climate zone 3. (Learn more about net-zero ready)
Level Three: For locations with design wind speeds up to 190 miles per hour. (Appropriate for some very high wind parts of Coastal Florida and in the Caribbean). Includes everything in Level One and Level Two packages, plus:
  • Structural hardware upgraded for coastal environments to either stainless or galvanized components as available
  • Level 3 Design Review of the chosen floor plan for any additional structural changes needed to allow the plan to be built in the site specific extreme wind conditions, including floor plan adjustments as required.
  • Florida homes with the Level 3 High Wind Package are designed to be Net-Zero Ready in Florida. (Net-Zero ready design is not applicable in the Caribbean.)

Important Limitations And Notes

You will need to check with your local building authority to find out what the wind speed requirements are in your area. (If you need help, you can connect with one of Deltec’s project consultants.) The wind speeds provided are based on ASCE 7 ultimate design wind speeds. Design assumptions have been made regarding the home’s final elevation, wind exposure and terrain. Actual site and build conditions may differ and result in lower/higher wind speed capacities.

Hurricane Ready Features from the 360° Design Studio.

Deltec has a long history of providing customized round homes that have survived the worst storms. All homes built through our 360° Design Studio use the advantages of our base radial design, material excellence, and focus on critical connections. We review each design produced by our Design Studio and work with you to select the high wind or coastal structural upgrades and the window package and layout that you need to match your site conditions, with options available to design your home to up to 190 miles per hour design wind speeds. (Our Design Studio also have a long history of designing highly energy efficient net-zero, off grid or simply very sustainable homes.) Since the design factors influencing a customized home design are unique to the design and to the site, contact a Deltec representative to learn more.

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