National · Regionally calibrated · Married to no method

BuiltStrong.aiBuiltStrong.aiFree report

A national advisor

What to build, for the hazards on your lot.

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BuiltStrong.ai compares resilient ways of building — SCIP, ICF, ICCF, CMU with foam, SIP, a wood frame built to the IBHS FORTIFIED standard, and the wider library — against the wind, water, fire, mold, and termites on your site. We will recommend against a method. The notes are calibrated by region. We do not represent a manufacturer.

Owners come to us after a storm, a non-renewal, or a builder’s pitch that only sells one system.

Cutaway of a two-story house with three wall types in one elevation: insulated concrete forms on the left, wood frame in the middle, and concrete masonry with insulation on the right, each carried from the roof down to the foundation.

Resilient Structures

What should this county be built from?

Every county is scored on its hazard mix. Coastal high-wind and surge zones use the thin-finish penalty on foam-faced walls. Hover or search, then argue with the result.

The county map loads as you reach it.

Read the full map and the sources

How strong is your home?

ZIP, walls, roof, foundation, age

An instant hazard profile and a performance score for the system you already have. Thin testing stays a label. Price is not in the number.

How it works

Three ways to use the advice.

The report is free. Advisory work, including a site visit, is a fee you pay us. A builder introduction is free to you. We earn a referral fee from the builder only if you sign a contract, and we say so before anyone is introduced.

  1. 01

    Use the free report

    Tell us the lot, the program, and what you will not trade away. You get a written plan: shell, roof, glazing, envelope, mitigation, and a cost band. Take it to any architect. No account is required.

    Get a free report
  2. 02

    Book an advisory engagement

    When the free plan is not the end of the work, you hire us. A written briefing, a concept package, or a site visit. Briefing and concept prices are published. A site visit is quoted per job. We are not your architect of record.

    See the advisory work
  3. 03

    Meet a vetted builder

    If you want one, we introduce a builder who already works in the method the lot calls for. You pay nothing for the introduction. The builder pays a referral fee only if you sign a contract. You can decline and keep the plan.

    How introductions work

Library

Systems filed today

39 notes are filed. Reserved titles sit in the same categories and are marked coming soon. Courses and continuing-education options are listed on the education page.

  • Isometric drawing of a structural concrete insulated panel: a foam core, welded wire mesh, and shotcrete on both faces.

    Structural shells

    13 filed. 7 reserved. Wall systems that carry the house: concrete, masonry, framed, and panel shells.

  • Isometric drawing of a house on piles, with the floor raised and open space underneath for water to pass.

    Foundations

    7 filed. 5 reserved. How the house meets grade, water, and soil.

  • Isometric drawing of a FORTIFIED Roof: a sealed roof deck, locked edges, and the roof covering.

    Roofs

    6 filed. 2 reserved. Coverings, decks, shape, and the layer under the covering.

  • Isometric drawing of impact-rated glazing: laminated glass held in a reinforced frame.

    Openings

    3 filed. 3 reserved. Windows, doors, shutters, and vents.

  • Isometric drawing of rainscreen cladding held off a drainage plane, with a gap behind the face.

    Envelope

    8 filed. 5 reserved. Cladding, insulation, moisture control, and pest barriers.

  • Isometric drawing of a storm safe room, with reinforced walls and a heavy door.

    Resilience systems

    2 filed. 6 reserved. Site and equipment beside the shell, including refuge and defensible space.

  • Isometric cutaway of a wood-frame wall and roof edge showing a continuous load path: truss straps, wall sheathing, an anchored sill, and a taped roof deck.

    Standards

    0 filed. 15 reserved. Programs, codes, and maps a resilient house is checked against.

Photographs and test footage

Photographs are copies stored on this site. Videos stay on YouTube and load only after you press play. A caption stays with what its source says.

These are federal photographs of Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Michael. A house still standing is not identified here as any particular wall system.

Side-by-side aerial photographs of Mexico Beach, Florida, labeled April 2017 and October 11, 2018, Post-Hurricane Michael. The later view shows sand over roads and many missing buildings, with some roofs still in place.
USGS and NOAA: entire buildings were swept off their foundations by Hurricane Michael’s storm surge in Mexico Beach, and sand covered the roadways. The source does not identify the construction of any building that is still standing. Photo: USGS and NOAA, public domain · License · Source
Aerial view of a New Jersey shore neighborhood after Hurricane Sandy. Several houses are collapsed or shifted on the sand, and other houses are still standing among debris.
Damaged homes along the New Jersey shore after Hurricane Sandy. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service caption does not say how any of the houses was built. Photo: Greg Thompson / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, public domain · License · Source