NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With hurricane season upon us, experts are reminding builders and homeowners about new wind-resistance standards for products such as doors and roofing shingles. The new standards benefit homes and other buildings in hurricane-prone, coastal areas -- and all areas affected by storms and winter weather. The Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association (BHMA) and the Steel Door Institute (SDI) have published a national severe windstorm resistance component standard, ANSI A250.13, “Testing and Rating of Severe Windstorm Resistant Components for Swinging Door Assemblies.” The standard deals with a common challenge faced by builders and specifiers: constructing entryways that can withstand sustained wind speeds or gusts in the range of 110 to 150 miles per hour and wind-borne projectiles associated with severe windstorms and hurricanes. Once the exterior envelope is breached, either by wind force or debris, the fluctuation of the internal and external pressure can cause catastrophic failure of the building structure. For this reason, it is vital to maintain the integrity of the entry system. Likewise, the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association (ARMA) released a simple-to-use Layman’s Paper titled, “New Wind Standards for Asphalt Shingles,” which explains what builders and consumers need to know when buying wind-resistant shingle products. It includes a new wind-resistance classification system developed by ARMA, based on 14 years of research and wind tunnel testing. This classification system is now incorporated in the International Code Council’s International Building Code 2004 supplement, used by builders and municipal inspectors. According to Russ Snyder, executive Director of ARMA, “consumers and builders need to know two crucial things before purchasing asphalt shingles: the wind zone location of the building being roofed and the wind classification of the shingle proposed for the building.” Wind zone location can be obtained from town or county building code enforcement offices. For most of the continental United States, the wind zone classification is 90 mph (maximum average wind speeds). Some coastal and inland regions, however, may have wind zone designations of up to 150 mph. It is also critical that shingles are properly installed to withstand occasional or sustained high winds. To assure maximum wind performance, notes ARMA, asphalt shingles must be applied to a properly installed deck following the manufacturers’ requirements for number, type, and placement of nails.
