David O. Prevatt, Associate Professor of Civil and Coastal Engineering and Associate Director of the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure Center (NHERI) was recently featured in the Orlando Sentinel for his research on wind-resistant building techniques.

The Orlando Sentinel article commended the state of Florida for being ranked as the top in the nation for its building codes–something highly important as the state is the nation’s biggest hurricane target.

According to Prevatt, the state of Florida leads in testing wind-resistant building techniques with input from contractors, engineers, building officials and others. The state also trains building officials and contractors on ways to minimize wind damage. He advocated doing more to protect existing structures.

“Florida must still confront the challenge of addressing the high vulnerability of existing buildings which are a large proportion of the total inventory,” said Prevatt. “Many existing structures lack the wind-resilient details from latest codes and as a result may suffer more damage.”

To learn more about Prevatt’s research and Florida’s top-ranked building codes, please visit the Orlando Sentinel article here.