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Entire Audubon Village community being built to this disaster-resistant standard
Bolivar Peninsula, Texas - The first Fortified…for safer living® home in Texas is now complete, and Audubon Village is on its way to becoming a disaster-resistant community.
Crown Team Texas, through its subsidiary Coastal Components, is building an entire community of modular homes that will earn the Fortified…for safer living® designation from the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS).
The “Fortified” program specifies construction and design guidelines to increase a home's resistance to natural disasters such as hurricane winds, wildfires and flooding, with localized guidelines based primarily on the extreme events that may occur in the region where the home is built.
Each home receives the designation once it is finished and all documentation of compliance is received by IBHS. Aran & Franklin Engineering Inc. in Galveston is the independent third party inspecting the homes in Audubon Village, verifying throughout the construction process that “Fortified” standards are being met.
The Audubon Village home on Bolivar Peninsula, 60 miles southeast of downtown Houston, was the first modular home in the USA sited as “Fortified”. Crown Team Texas is the first developer to build to this code-plus standard in Texas.
The program provides extra attention to areas especially vulnerable to harsh elements, including doors and windows, roof construction, and the foundation. Because of the location, homes in Audubon Village are elevated on concrete piles 27 feet above sea level.
Other “Fortified” construction features include:
- Homes engineered and built to withstand at least 130 mile per hour wind speeds;
- Connections that securely tie the house together from roof to foundation;
- Non-combustible roof materials that better withstand high winds and water penetration; and
- Impact protection for windows and doors.
“The Audubon Village design concept is unique in disaster resistant coastal living,” said Chuck Vance, IBHS Fortified program manager. “It allows people to enjoy their home and lifestyle while greatly reducing the potential for property loss to their investment.”
The Institute for Business & Home Safety works to reduce the social and economic effects of natural disasters and other property losses by conducting research and advocating improved construction, maintenance and preparation practices.
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