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National Storm Shelter Association

P.O. Box 41023 Lubbock, TX 79409

Phone: 1 877.700.NSSA (6772)

E-mail: info@nssa.cc

INTERTEK PARTNERS WITH TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY AND NSSA
FOR TORNADO PRODUCT CERTIFICATION

 Leaders in Wind Resistant Building Materials Research, Testing and Certification
Join to Bring Tornado Product Certification to Market

 March 2005;  CHICAGO, IL – The ETL SEMKO division of Intertek recently partnered with Texas Tech University’s Wind Science and Engineering Research Center (WISE) and the National Storm Shelter Association (NSSA) to provide product testing and certification for products intended for use in tornado resistant shelters.

 “Intertek was proud to be selected by the leaders in tornado resistant materials research to bring Tornado Product Certification to market,” said Jeff Turcotte, vice president, Intertek ETL SEMKO.  “This important work is certain to save lives by raising the bar of quality on wind and flying debris resistant materials, and tornado shelter construction.”

 Leveraging WISE’s state-of-the-art research facilities and Intertek’s certification expertise, manufacturers of all types of wind and flying debris resistant materials, and components (i.e., door assemblies), now have an industry recognized source for their product testing and certification needs.  What’s more, products that are tested and comply with the prescribed standards will bear Intertek’s well known Warnock Hersey Certification Mark for building materials.

 “The partnership between Intertek, WISE and NSSA is a significant step toward upgrading the quality in tornado shelter construction,” said Ernst W. Kiesling, Ph.D., P.E., executive director of NSSA and Texas Tech University Professor of Civil Engineering.

 About Intertek

Intertek Group plc. (ITRK), a global leader in testing, inspection and certification services, operates in over 273 laboratories and 521 offices in 100 countries throughout the world. The ETL SEMKO division of Intertek provides access to global markets through its local services including product safety testing and certification, EMC testing and performance/benchmark testing for customers in such industries as building products, appliances, HVAC, cables and wiring accessories, industrial machinery, medical devices, telecommunications, lighting, automotive, semiconductor, and electronics. For more information about Intertek’s services, visit www.intertek-etlsemko.com or e-mail icenter@intertek.com.

About WISE

The Wind Science and Engineering (WISE) Research Center at Texas Tech University was established in 1970, following a tornado in Lubbock that caused 26 fatalities and over $100 million in damage. 

 The WISE Center is focused on research, education and information outreach.

 The comprehensive and interdisciplinary research program aspires to exploit the useful qualities of wind and to mitigate its detrimental effects.  The Center offers an interdisciplinary education in wind science and engineering to develop professionals who are experts in design for windstorms and wind-induced effects. The Center develops information on windstorm disaster mitigation and other wind-related subjects that can be made available to professionals and the public. For more information visit www.wind.ttu.edu.

About NSSA

The NSSA was formed to ensure the highest quality of manufactured and constructed storm shelters for protecting people from injury or loss of life from the effects of tornadoes, hurricanes and other devastating natural disasters. The association is self-policing to maintain public confidence and respect for the storm shelter industry.  For more information visit www.nssa.cc.

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Partners for Tornado Certification   Genesis of NSSA   Member & Sponsors   Standard Development   Standard Verification

Genesis of the National Storm Shelter Association
A Modern Creation Story

 Origins

 The National Storm Shelter Association (NSSA) grew out of a concern for storm shelter quality after the Oklahoma City tornadoes of May 1999.  Concept of the above ground storm shelter, called an in-residence shelter, had been introduced in the Civil Engineer Magazine twenty five years earlier. Redevelopment of the shelter concept had reached the point where Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had published a booklet entitled “Taking Shelter From the Storm-Building a Safe Room Inside Your House”. 

 State of Oklahoma decided to use the substantial mitigation funding made available by FEMA to supplement the construction of storm shelters in Oklahoma.  This incentive program created an unprecedented demand for shelters within a short period of time.  Home builders responded to the created market for storm shelters, building primarily those shelters featured in FEMA 320.  For these shelters, building inspectors were charged with ascertaining compliance with FEMA 320 background storm shelters.  Manufacturers also responded to the market for above ground shelters by creating an exciting array of manufactured shelters or kits to be assembled into storm shelters.  Since no specifications were available it was required that shelters be tested for debris impact resistance and that they have an engineers seal.  As one might expect in any new industry, many quality issues surfaced.  A few engineers were both qualified and willing to design storm shelters to verify quality of existing designs.  There was no standard available for shelters not shown in FEMA 320.  Those performing debris impact test as well as the manufacturers of quality products became painfully aware of quality problems within the newly founded industry.  Within the first year after the Oklahoma City disaster, more than 20 companies had their manufactured shelters tested at Texas Tech University for debris impact résistance.  Dr. Kiesling invited those companies to a meeting at Texas Tech University in February of 2000 to address issues of quality in the storm shelter industry.  The National Storm Shelter Association was conceived and Lubbock Texas was designated as its headquarters. 

 The purpose of the National Storm Shelter Association is to foster quality by recognizing and distinguishing the shelter products who meet a high standard of quality.  They are entitled to affix a seal to their shelters a testing compliance with a industry standard.  But there was no standard! Hence, the first major undertaking of the NSSA was to develop an industry standard.  Almost a year was consumed in evolving the first draft of an industry standard for storm shelters.

 Criteria for member grade in the NSSA requires that shelter producers-builders or manufacturers-comply with FEMA 320 for above ground storm shelters or that they have their shelters tested for debris impact at a NSSA approved facility and that they have their designs and engineering calculations verified by a third party engineering company to be in compliance with the standard. 

 For a variety of reasons, few shelter producers have “gone the distance” to meet the requirements for membership in NSSA.  Nevertheless, code development continued within NSSA with the intent of evolving the industry standard into a national consensus standard.  Fortunately, in July of 2002 an agreement was reached between the International Code Council (ICC) and the National Storm Shelter Association (NSSA) to develop a national consensus standard to be accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Under development is the ICC/NSSA Standard for Design and Construction of Storm Shelters. It is expected to be ready for adoption by code jurisdictions in 2007. In the meantime, NSSA will continue to make an industry standard available on its website at www.NSSA.cc The industry standard will be removed from the website when the ICC/NSSA Standard is complete and ready for distribution.

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Partners for Tornado Certification   Genesis of NSSA   Member & Sponsors   Standard Development   Standard Verification

New Members and Sponsors

Since our 2003 annual meeting in June, several membership changes have occurred.  Current membership may be viewed on the NSSA website at www.NSSA.cc  Professional Members include Dr. Marc Levitan of the Hurricane Research Center at Louisiana State University, Dennis Graber of the National Concrete Masonry Association, and Dr. James McDonald, Principal in the firm of McDonald & Mehta, Wind Engineers. Ceco Door Products has become a Corporate Sponsor of NSSA. Thomas R. Janicak is Director of Industry Affairs for Ceco. Bill Donald, President of Twister Shelter and Vault is a MEMBER, and serves as Vice President of NSSA. Brad Reed of Community Development – Lubbock and Carl F. Agsten, President of GustBuster Storm Shelters, LLC are new MEMBERS. COL Edward Klaus (ret) became an individual sponsor this year.  Congratulations to all. Your support and participation are valued.

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Partners for Tornado Certification   Genesis of NSSA   Member & Sponsors   Standard Development   Standard Verification

ICC/ NSSA Standards Development

Under an agreement with the International Code Council (ICC ), the National Storm Shelter Association (NSSA) is cooperating in developing a national consensus standard for storm shelters.  The new standard, to be accredited by the American National Standards Institute, will be called the ICC/NSSA Standard for Design and Construction of Storm Shelters.  All types and sizes of shelters will be included as well as all geographic regions of the country.  The current thinking of the committee is that tornadoes and hurricanes will be considered separately and that separate criteria will be established. 

 Under the agreement, NSSA may continue to post the NSSA industry standard, along with changes, on the web at www.NSSA.cc  Hence, the NSSA Standard can be used effective to get standards provisions into practice long before the consensus process is complete and the ANSI-accredited standard is published.  Upon publication of the ICC/NSSA Standard, NSSA will cease to make the industry standard available on the web and ICC will market the consensus standard. NSSA will be allowed volume discounts so that we might profit from the sale of the standard.

 Mark Levitan, P.E., Ph.D., Director of the Hurricane Research Center at Louisiana State University and a professional member of NSSA, chairs the ICC/NSSA Committee. Serving as members of the ICC/NSSA Standards Committee are James Waller, P.E., President of NSSA and President of Remagen Corporation, Ernst Kiesling, P.E., Ph.D., Executive Director of NSSA, Dennis Graber, P.E., of the National Concrete Masonry Association and a Professional Member of NSSA and Kurt Roeper of IR Security.  Jeremy Gilstrap, P.E., of Simpson Strong-Tie and Professional Member and Secretary of NSSA serves as an alternate to James Waller.  Russell Carter, P.E., former Research Associate of  Texas Tech and now a Ph. D. Student at Clemson University, serves as an alternate to Ernst Kiesling.

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Partners for Tornado Certification   Genesis of NSSA   Member & Sponsors   Standard Development   Standard Verification

McDonald Appointed for Third-Party Standards Verification

The firm of McDonald & Mehta, LLP, Wind Engineers of Lubbock, Texas has been appointed as a third-party agency for confirming verification of shelter designs with the NSSA Standard.  Dr. James R. McDonald, P.E., Ph.D., Professional Member of NSSA and a principal in McDonald & Mehta, will conduct the standards compliance verifications. Dr. McDonald has over 30 years of experience as a researcher in wind engineering and was involved in the development of shelter concepts, testing, and design while a faculty member at Texas Tech University.

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