Our society places great importance on the education system and its
schools, and has a tremendous investment in current and future
schools. Nearly 50 million students were expected to attend
approximately 99,000 public elementary and secondary schools in the
fall of 2009, with an additional 5.8 million expected to attend
private schools. The sizes of these school facilities range from
one-room rural schoolhouses to citywide and mega schools that house
5,000 or more students. The school is both a place of learning and
an important community resource and center. This publication is
concerned with the protection of schools and their occupants
against natural hazards. Architects and engineers deal with natural
hazards in building design and construction and building codes have
provisions for protection against natural hazards. This manual
addresses two core concepts: multi-hazard design and
performance-based design. Multi-hazard design recognizes the
fundamental characteristics of hazards and how they interact, so
that design for protection becomes integrated with all the other
design demands; and Performance-based design suggests conducting a
systematic investigation to ensure that the specific concerns of
building owners and occupants are addressed, rather than relying on
only the minimum requirements of the building code for protection
against hazards. Building codes focus on providing life safety,
while property protection is secondary. Performance-based design
provides additional levels of protection that cover property damage
and functional interruption within a financially-feasible context.
This publication stresses that the identification of hazards and
their frequency and careful consideration of design to resist these
hazards must be integrated with all other design issues, and be
included from the inception of the site selection and building
design process. Although the basic issues to be considered in
planning a school construction program are more or less common to
all school districts, the specific processes differ greatly because
each school district has its own approach. Districts vary in size,
from a rural district responsible for only a few schools, to a city
district or statewide system overseeing a complex program of all
school types and sizes. Any of these districts may be responsible
for new design and construction, renovations, and additions. While
one district may have a long-term program of school construction
and be familiar with programming, financing, hiring designers,
bidding procedures, contract administration, and commissioning a
new building, another district may not have constructed a new
school for decades, and have no staff members familiar with the
process. This publication is intended to provide design guidance
for the protection of school buildings and their occupants against
natural hazards. It focuses on the design of elementary and
secondary schools (K-12), as well as repair, renovation, and
additions to existing schools. It is one of a series of
publications in which multi-hazard and performance-based design are
addressed (FEMA 577, Design Guide for Improving Hospital Safety in
Earthquakes, Floods, and High Winds, and FEMA 543, Design Guide for
Improving Critical Facility Safety from Flooding and High Winds).
This publication considers the safety of school buildings to
occupants, and the economic losses and social disruption caused by
building damage and destruction. The volume covers three natural
hazards that have the potential to result in unacceptable risk and
loss: earthquakes, floods and high winds. A companion volume, FEMA
428, Primer to Design Safe School Projects in Case of Terrorist
Attacks, covers the manmade hazards of physical, chemical,
biological, and radiological attacks. This publication is intended
to assist design professionals and school officials involved in the
technical and financial decisions related to school construction,
repair, and renovations.
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