Welcome to Category-5
Living through Hurricanes Alicia, Bonnie, Rita, Ike, Harvey and Beryl, storms like Allison, and witnessing the effects of nearby Hurricane Katrina, we here at Cat-5 in Southeast Texas know the extremes of weather during climate change. Storms are larger and more frequent, winds blow more strongly, and floodwaters reach higher. Conditions of all kinds are more severe, and compound each other. Our weather is increasingly volatile.
Working in threatened locations, we’ve learned since 2005 to build weather security through elevation, strength and durability. Based on 2017’s Hurricane Harvey, we know our system can handle 54+ inches of flood (= Houston in 2017) and strong hurricanes (Categories 3-5).
The Storm Defense House stands mid way between conventional stick construction, unitized modular systems, and a true custom home. Like the first, it’s made of standard pieces; like the second, it’s assembled as a system of systems; and like a custom home it’s configured to the owner’s exact specifications.
A Cat-5 is a hybrid solution to the hybrid challenge of climate change – more durable and efficient than any other type, and reflecting owners’ desires without the time- and complexity-costs of a custom project.
Here’s our approach…
WE ENGINEER FOR UP TO CATEGORY-5 WINDS OF 157 mph
WE SPECIFY POINT LOAD STRUCTURES THAT REDUCE THE NEED FOR CONCRETE, AND THEREFORE ALSO REDUCE GREEN HOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
WE ELEVATE OUR BUILDINGS UP TO 60" ABOVE GRADE
WE SPECIFY STRUCTURAL MATERIALS THAT ARE 95%+ RECYCLED
WE BEAT BACK HIGH TEMPERATURES BY INSULATING WALLS AND ROOFS UP TO R-54
WE DESIGN OUR ROOFS TO MAXIMIZE SOLAR AND RAIN HARVESTS, AND WITH LARGE OVERHANGS FOR SHADE AND TO GENERATE AMBIENT BREEZES
WHERE BUILD A CAT-5? Any place where bad weather threatens. That means coastal Texas and Louisiana, up through the entire Mississippi, Ohio and Missouri watersheds, and along waterfronts and rivers everywhere. Any property near any flood plain should have the elevation and strength of a Storm Defense House.
“HIGHER THAN THE FLOOD, STRONGER THAN THE WIND”
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Design for CATEGORY-5 by CAMERON ARMSTRONG ARCHITECTS
Our system is based on a few simple ideas…
Category-5 wants to build storm-resistant homes wherever weather or water threaten
We aim to deliver real buildings with real foundations and roofs, not prefabs or kits
Our system is based on super strong steel framing with extreme insulation and a choice of exterior finishes
Cat-5s come in three sizes - 1600 and 3200 square feet (approx), and Custom, which can be docked together or erected separately
Our envelopes are “open plan” with no interior obstructions, to accommodate any floor plan
Cat-5s are designed to sit 60” above grade, or higher, but can be engineered for a slab foundation
Parking is normally in an open carport, which can be enclosed
The Cat-5 is “Climate Safe” with 25-30% less embodied carbon than a typical stick-framed house of comparable size
Our steel is made in grid-powered Electrical Arc Furnaces from 95%+ recycled material. In Texas, power for making steel is now (2024) 30-40% from renewable sources, a ratio that is quickly increasing.
“The CATEGORY-5 is designed for strength and flexibility, and is inherently resistant to mold, rot and bugs.”
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The CATEGORY-5 Process
A Storm Defense House is assembled from materials for the building envelope, layouts and materials for the interior, installations of MEP and other systems, specifications for finish components and general details of major elements. Category-5 is mostly involved in coordinating engineering, delivery and erection of the exterior envelope, and installations of modular systems for kitchens and baths. We provide no direct construction or supervisory services. Every project is unique but generally comprises…
Programming and layouts reflecting owner desires and preferences accommodated within a Category-5 system envelope
Engineering for the building, foundation and site by third party consultants
Installation of foundation, site access and landscape features by the General Contractor (GC)
Steel materials for the envelope and the roof, ceiling and exterior finishes with delivery coordinated by Category-5 and erection by the GC’s erector
Lumber materials and doors, windows and gyp board with delivery and installation by the GC
Joint coordination of systems for stair and deck railings and similar specialties by Cat-5 and the GC
Mechanical-electrical-plumbing systems and kitchen and bath modules, with joint coordination and delivery of product selections by Cat-5 and GC, and installation by GC’s subcontractors
Phase 1
Category-5 will need site information, including:
Survey(s) and a geotechnical report
A topographical map showing existing structures, streams or marshes, and drainage
Local codes, and any FEMA and NOAA reports
A plant and animal inventory
Phase 2
Based on the owner’s desires and preferences, budget, and timing, Cat-5 can help develop general ideas into a specific program. This can be reflected in an interior layout diagram for the GC’s use, or we can arrange for creation of an original architectural design
Cat-5 will provide general details as needed by the interior layout diagram, with schedules reflecting door, window, and kitchen and bath preferences
Phase 3
Category-5 will provide diagrams of the envelope to foundation, steel or other engineers, and coordinate installation of their designs
Cat-5 will coordinate the owner’s selection and purchase of a metal building system
Category-5 will coordinate the GCs receipt of the steel materials and owner’s COD payment, and provide assistance in the assembling the completed building
Agreements:
An agreed scope of Cat-5’s services addressing involvement in programming and design, site and building layouts, diagrams for engineering purposes and details for structural elements, and interior and exterior elements including finishes and kitchen and bath modules
Contracts with foundation, site and structural engineers as needed
A general contract with a qualified builder reflecting construction expectations, subcontractor scopes, and the purchase and coordination of materials and modular systems
A contract with a metal building company, as bid by Cat-5 from two or more candidates, reflecting a down payment and final COD payment upon delivery of the materials
An agreed scope of Cat-5 advisory services in connection with completing the building
The CATEGORY-5 Storm Defense House vs. Conventional Construction
Category-5 can be compared with conventional and “Green” construction in a number of ways
Materials, Efficiency and Carbon
Conventional homes have wooden structures that are both heavy and weak, and depend for stability on massive foundations of carbon-heavy concrete; by contrast, Cat-5s are carried on only a few widely-spaced piers
The concrete under a wooden house boosts its embodied carbon to 25-30% more than a pier-supported Cat-5
Timber-framed “green” buildings, even when elevated, also require large concrete foundations with similar climate impacts
The steel for our structures is made in grid-powered Electrical Arc Furnaces, from 95%+ recycled material (steel is increasingly made with renewable energy, now 30-40% of the Texas grid)
Cat-5’s thermal performance is based on outer walls providing R-54+ and roofs with R-48+ insulation - much more efficient than wooden houses with R-19 walls and R-30 roofs
Cat-5 homes offer roof overhangs of up to 11 feet to reduce heat gain from sun exposure, much more than the 48” possible with wooden frames
The big roofs of Cat-5s enable large scale solar and rainfall harvesting, and can generate cooling breezes aerodyamically from light air
Site and Context
The few piers supporting a Cat-5 are much less invasive than the massive foundations of wooden houses
Site impacts are less, so properties recover faster
Cat-5s reduced site storage needs are much less destructive
Construction waste is usually much less for a Cat-5 because of fewer pieces and quicker installation
Durability and Efficiency
Exterior elements are made of inorganic materials and typically carry manufacturers’ warrantees of 20-30 years
Windows and doors are 100% aluminum and fully insulated with thermal breaks
Thermal performance is assured by the outer wall assemblies, which deliver R-54+ insulation (vs. R-19 typically), and roofs with R-48 (vs. R-30 typically)
Roof shapes are shaped to aerodynamically produce ambient breezes and shade exterior walls to minimize heat gain
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Please contact Category-5 using the form below