Matrix IMA: The Neglected Hazards of Snow and Cold

The Uniform Building Code, used throughout the Western states, whose mountain areas have heavy snowfalls, and in Alaska, which has both drifting snow and freezing ground, permits the local building official to determine the snow load. The justification is that snow loads vary too much for a standard requirement to be useful. However, no special training or credentials are required for building officials, and they vary widely in their abilities, knowledge, and judgment. Many mountain counties have adopted their own snow load standards, and it is not uncommon to find snow load requirements in excess of 200 pounds per square foot in one country and 20 pounds per square foot the next.

All of the building codes ate inadequate in recognizing the greater fire danger in cold country, where snow may block building exits and make roads impassable for firefighting equipment. Additional building exits should be required, and sprinklers should be mandatory in areas where they would otherwise be one of several fire safety options. In arctic areas, where sprinklers can cause as much damage as fire and where direct egress from buildings is often hazardous, places of refuge with full life support systems should be mandatory.

It is ironic that architects, building officials, and the public as a whole have $o neglected the techniques and responsibilities of building in the cold country. Many who live in earthquake zones live in dread of the next big tremor. Winds sweep through the Midwest, killing many and leaving more homeless. Floods cause great suffering and loss of life. Fire is an omnipresent risk. All of these plagues are dealt with by our building codes. But for some reason the hazards and inconvenience of the cold country have received little attention. No standards are set to prevent ice on snow-laden roofs from crashing into public spaces or wrenching chimneys off roof slopes.

No standards have been established to keep vents from becoming closed by snow and ice, sickening or even killing the building occupants. No standards prevent ice dam leaks. The 1982 Uniform Building Code has devoted 96 pages to fire risk and 23 pages to earthquake risk, but only one clause to all cold weather and snow considerations, and this code applies to Western mountains and Alaska.

With more and more people moving into cold climates, where massive amounts of snow can fall in the streets, where cities can be swept by avalanche, where the ground can boil with frost, it is high time we devoted the attention to these hazards that they deserve. The cold country has its special appeal. We architects must help see that the attraction is not fatal.