§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what statistics have been produced by the Building Research Establishment in each of the last seven years to indicate the extent and cost of wind damage to buildings in the United Kingdom in respect of roofs, sections of wall, electricity pylons, cooling towers and sports grandstands.
§ Sir George YoungStatistics have been produced by BRE in each of the last seven years relating to the extent and cost of damage to buildings in the United Kingdom due to the wind (and not other causes). The statistics form part of a continuing survey of reports of wind damage started in 1962. Information from the last seven years has been published in
Performance of buildings in the United Kingdom. N. J. CookEngineering Structures, Vol 6, October 1984, pp 248–255.The designer's guide to wind loading of building structures. N. J. Cook. Butterworths, 1985. ISBN 0–408–00870–9.Overall, during the last seven years, there have been wind damage reports from some 2,900 different locations in the United Kingdom, the number of buildings involved varying from one to several hundred at each location. During that same period, 20 people have been killed and nearly 300 have been injured as a result of the wind damage to the buildings. The total cost of the damage has varied considerably from year to year. On average since 1962, some 200,000 buildings are damaged each year by high winds at an annual cost of about £35 million (1986 prices).
The estimated total cost of all wind damage to buildings during the last seven years, together with the number of 595W reports received in respect of specific categories—roofs, walls of buildings, electricity pylons, cooling towers and sports grandstands—is given below.
1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 £ million £ million £ million £ million £ million £ million £ million Estimated total cost of all wind damage to buildings (1986 prices) 12 2 9 11 23 62 2 Number of reports of damage to: Roofs 222 43 336 352 773 3,101 44 Walls of buildings 62 17 33 50 112 262 7 Electricity pylons — — — — 4 3 — Cooling towers — — — — 1 2 — Sports grandstands 1 — 1 2 10 18 — Subdivision of the total cost into those relating to each category cannot be made from the available information.
§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what design programmes have been produced for engineers by the Building Research Establishment to enable them to predict wind loading more accurately.
§ Sir George YoungIn November 1985 BRE published a new book, "The designer's guide to wind loading of building structures" by N. J. Cook aimed at helping engineers predict wind loads more accurately. In December 1985, a suite of computer programs called STRONGBLOW was then produced as an extension to the information available in the book. STRONGBLOW is a user-friendly computer program suite in BASIC which generates design wind speed data accurately and reliably at any site for all wind directions and any height above ground for the assessment of wind loads on buildings. STRONGBLOW is orientated to sites in the United Kingdom but instructions are included to extend the scope to overseas sites. STRONGBLOW is available from BRE priced £000+ VAT.
§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what surveys have been conducted by the Building Research Establishment to establish the extent to which buildings stand up to natural winds in the midlands, north and south of England; and what results have been produced.
§ Sir George YoungAs part of the wind damage survey referred to in another question from the hon. Member answered today the location of all incidents has been recorded and, where possible, an estimate made of the wind speed at the time the damage occurred. The results of this assessment have been published in
Performance of buildings in the United Kingdom, N. J. Cook.Engineering Structures, Vol. 6, October 1984, pp 248–255.The designer's guide to wind loading of building structures.N. J. Cook. Butterworths, 1985. ISBN 0–408–00870–9.In general it is noted that the wind speed at which damage starts to occur in the north of the United Kingdom are greater than in the south. This is due largely to variations of traditional building practices across the United Kingdom in response to geographical differences in wind climate.
The number of reports of damage since 1962 has not been sufficient to compare susceptibility of buildings to wind damage on a local regional basis. However, the 596W reports have been divided into two sets, one for Scotland and northern England, the other for Wales and southern England. This division indicates that minor damage to building starts to occur at about 15 m/s in the South and 17.5 m/s in the North.