An international group that develops building codes adopted by a wide swath of U.S. cities and counties abruptly pared back a plan to force new homes to be more climate-friendly. The International ...

That report builds off another Smith hobbyhorse: What we lack in elevators, we more than make up for in staircases. Four years ago, the Seattle architect Michael Eliason began drawing attention to the ...

For the past 25 years, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has helped develop building codes, the construction standards that help houses survive hurricanes, wildfires and earthquakes. Now, ...

In the wake of Hurricane Helene, two feet of rain fell on western North Carolina, damaging or sweeping away thousands of houses in landslides and floods. At least 101 people died. In many cases, ...