IN/BOX
6 STORM & SECURITY PROTECTION / IBS PREVIEW 2015
ICC 2015-2017 Code Development Cycle Begins
The International Code Council's (ICC) 2015/2016/2017
Code Development Cycle begins with the Group A Interna-
tional Codes (I-Codes). ICC is accepting proposed changes
to the Group A I-Codes through midnight Pacific Time on
January 12, 2015.
The 2015/2016/2017 code development cycle will be the
first full cycle to use cdpACCESS, ICC's cloud-based system
for code development that allows for online collaboration,
code changes and public comment submittals, submissions
of floor modifications and online voting.
A change to section 3.3.5.6 of Code Council Policy 28
also is new in this cycle. The policy addresses cost impacts
of code change proposals. The policy still requires that the
proponent indicate whether the code change proposal will
increase the cost of construction. The proponent also is
required to substantiate the cost impact. If the cost impact
statement or substantiation is not provided, the proposal is
considered incomplete and will not be processed.
"Any interested individual or group is invited to sub-
mit a code change proposal and welcome to participate,"
explained ICC Board of Directors President Guy Tomberlin,
CBO. "The process ensures that the International Codes
reflect the latest technical and scientific advancements, and
creates a forum where anyone can submit a code change in
a fair and equitable manner."
NOAA National Storm Surge Risk Map Online
Beginning December 2014, residents living in hurri-
cane-prone coastal areas along the U.S. East Coast and
Gulf Coast can evaluate their own storm surge risk using an
online high-resolution, interactive inundation risk map and
data made available by National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's National Hurricane Center and the Office for
Coastal Management.
The storm surge risk map uses data from a model that
simulates storm surge in 27 basins along the East and Gulf
coasts based on climatology, tens of thousands of hypotheti-
cal hurricanes and potential storm surges.
Marvin Cited for High Business Ethics
Marvin Windows and Doors has received the 2014
American Business Ethics Award from the Foundation for
Financial Service Professionals. The award highlights Marvin's
high standards of ethical conduct in the workplace, the
marketplace and the community.
Marvin's emphasis on ethics dates to its founder, George
Marvin, delivering 100-pound bags of flour to needy families
during the Depression, the company states.
Safe Room Doors Fact Sheet Available from FEMA
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
Building Science Branch has released a Residential Tornado
Safe Room Doors Fact Sheet.
Just as the walls and roof of a safe room are designed
and built to protect against extreme winds and wind-borne
debris, so must the safe room door, FEMA states. When care-
ful selection and installation of the safe room door assembly
is overlooked, the safe room door opening can leave occu-
pants at great risk of injury or death, it adds.
FEMA's Safe Room Doors Fact Sheet covers topics such
as what the difference is between a tested safe room door
and a standard door; why installing the complete tested door
assembly in its entirety is so important; where a tested safe
room door can be purchased; and what homeowners should
request when selecting a safe room door.
The Residential Tornado Safe Room Doors Fact Sheet can
be accessed and downloaded for free from the FEMA Library
found at www.fema.gov.
A properly construction safe room with a complete safe
room door assembly can protect occupants from great risk,
injury or death.
FEMA/Dave Gatley
2015 Construction Expansion Seen
Single-family housing and commercial building projects
are expected to grow by 15 percent each over the next 12
months, according to the 2015 Dodge Construction Out-
look. Overall, total U.S. construction starts for 2015 will rise
nine percent to $612 billion, about four percent more than
estimated for 2014, the report states.
Access to home mortgages will lift single-family housing,
while office construction will assume the leading role in com-
mercial building, the outlook states. Construction expansion
will be broad based, it adds, with support coming from more
sectors than in recent years.
