Wind Effects on Lowrise Buildings

In the opening decades of wind engineering research and application the typical focus was on the glamorous, highrise structure. These expensive projects could typically afford the high cost of a wind-tunnel study. As the relative cost of these studies has decreased over the last forty years, more conventional architecture has found its way into the wind tunnel. However, it is still quite rare for a single-family dwelling to be studied, and when it does happen it is usually not just a typical home – rather it is an expensive architectural edifice. Sadly, the arrival of a major wind event, such as a cyclone or hurricane, inevitably results in far more wind damage and consequent financial loss to nonengineered lowrise homes and industrial buildings [FEMA, 1986 and 1992; Fujita, 1993]. In many countries these dwelling losses are not insured and so the social trauma is compounded even further. However, the insured losses from a variety of disaster mechanisms can be indicative of the importance of wind to the built environment. Figure 1 comes from Dr. George Walker, of AON Insurance, and it shows that well over half of all insured losses are wind related. This illustrates a worldwide need for better design for the natural wind.