Wind-borne debris resistant façades : the european case of flying debris: roof tiles

Extreme-wind events are increasing worldwide due to climate change. Recent European records show a clear growth of these events, both in intensity and frequency. Airborne debris is one of the major risks in such occurrences, impacting the building envelope with high kinetic energy and determining a severe growth of the indoor air pressure with consequential damage of building components. In many Regions façades design and construction have been adapted to cyclonic winds and tornadoes, developing testing procedures to ensure flying debris-impact resistance of glazed systems. This paper aims to present the state of art of technical procedures to provide façade resilience to powerful storms. Furthermore, it points out the main differences among typologies of flying debris used in Europe and in other Countries. Finally, the current need for introducing impact test requirements for façades against flying debris in Europe is discussed, at least for constructions of primary importance. In fact, during disaster events and in post- emergency conditions, it is necessary that serviceability of strategic buildings, such as hospitals or police stations, should not be interrupted by damages occurred due to extreme winds. These constructions have to achieve a minimum level of façade resilience related to extreme-wind conditions and flying debris impact. The current European impact tests are analysed to show the different scope of these tests compared to flying debris resilience.