Mercedes Homes Unveils Hurricane-Resistant Homes in Brevard County.MELBOURNE, Fla. -- At the beginning of what hurricane forecasters predict will be another active hurricane season, Mercedes Homes, in conjunction with HUD's Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the federal agency responsible for coordinating emergency planning, preparedness, risk reduction, response, and recovery. The agency works closely with state and local governments by funding emergency programs and providing technical (FEMA FEMA, n.pr See Federal Emergency Management Agency. ), unveiled two new hurricane-resistant home prototypes in Huntington Lakes, a Mercedes Homes community in Rockledge, Fla. Representatives of Mercedes Homes, PATH, FEMA, the Florida Home Builders' Association (FHBA FHBA Florida Home Builders Association ) and the Florida Energy Extension Service (FEES) offered their various perspectives about the techniques used to construct these homes and how these methods can be applied to housing throughout Florida and beyond to minimize the impact of these devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. natural disasters. "Last year's hurricanes taught us that while home construction has come a long way since Hurricane Andrew, the industry still had a lot to learn," said Scott Buescher, Chief Operating Officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. for Mercedes Homes. "Mercedes was already working with these experts and their agencies to build more hurricane-resistant homes. As a result of some of the studies and research this team conducted last year, we've been able to incorporate even more protective features into these prototypes. While we hope that we will never see a season like last year's, we believe that including features such as these in homes in hurricane-prone areas will help the industry and home buyers." Some of the elements of these homes that were unveiled at the event include stronger structural design to reduce damage from high winds and cast-in-place concrete walls to provide hurricane resistance. Several design features were also included to reduce water intrusion such as out-swing entry doors, removable hurricane shutters, reconfigured soffit vent openings, baffled roof vents and an elastomeric sealant. Also on hand during the event were Bill Zoeller of Steven Winter Associates Inc., Paul "Buz" Ausley of HUD Hud (h  d), a pre-Qur'anic prophet of Islam. Hud unsuccessfully exhorted his South Arabian people, the Ad, to worship the One God. , Michele Delaney of FHBA and Dr. Pierce Jones from the University of Florida University of Florida is the third-largest university in the United States, with 50,912 students (as of Fall 2006) and has the eighth-largest budget (nearly $1.9 billion per year). UF is home to 16 colleges and more than 150 research centers and institutes. , director of FEES. Photography Available: Contact Lauren Furey, MPB MPB Musica Popular Brasileira MPB Mountain Pine Beetle MPB Male Pattern Baldness MPB Most Precious Blood (band) MPB Mississippi Public Broadcasting MPB Ministry of Planning and Budget (South Korea) Communications, by phone at 407-581-4222 or e-mail: lfurey@mpbc.cc. Tape also available at http://www.usnewsgroup.com/hurricane.html. About Mercedes Homes Mercedes Homes is the nation's largest 100 percent employee-owned home builder with 120 locations in Florida, Texas, North and South Carolina. More information about Mercedes Homes is available on their Web site at http://www.mercedeshomes.com. |
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