由美国的飓风想起美国的房子
zt 发表于 2005/10/21 12:47 一品 美好家园 (www.ywpw.com)
小时候看绿叶仙踪，小女孩的房子被龙卷风吹走，觉得真是充满童真的幻想。后来又看bugsbunny 三个小猪的故事，里面也有木头房子被大坏狼吹倒的情节。那个时候开始觉得这想象有点太脱离实际。到了美国，才发现原来美国大多数民居都是木材制作，且很少打地基，充其量有个半埋式的地窖。高速上，竟然经常看到长途车拉着整个新打制的木房子到处跑。公寓也是简易楼极多，墙像纸一样薄，隔壁邻居打电话竟然能听得清清楚楚。
造个房子也快，两层的家居一个月就完工。可是，习惯了中国钢筋混凝土公寓，美国的房子总给人一种偷工减料的感觉。难怪有龙卷风卷走房子的描述，如此单薄的结构，稍微强烈一些的飓风，可不得吹个稀里哗啦的。这次新奥的灾区，经常呈现地毯轰炸的效果，也不足为奇。
奇怪的是，飓风多发地区怎么也坚持使用木质房屋，难道为刺激经济发展么？
dgateway: Stick framing is indeed a very efficient system
If there is no hurricane and tornado, wood based stick framing is a very good system with many benefits: low cost, high insulation, quick time to build, and etc.
The building code in Florida has already changed after hurricane Andrew. Now they require 120 miles and above per hour building requirement, which practically renders stick framing with wood studs unviable. It is rare to see stick frmaing houses in southern and central florida now. House there are built with concrete block, concrete masonary units they call it. Houses built that area are sided with stucco. CBS (concrete block stucco) houses are the most common now in Florida.
In parts of Texas and Hawaii, many houses are built with light guage steel studs. That is also good for high humidity area.
Two building techniques are gaining popularity in tornado-prone areas: SIP (swandwiched insulated panel) and ICF (insulated concrete form). They both perform well in strong wind and earthquakes.