The American home

Materials adapted to climates

A country as large as the USA experiences a wide variety of geographical and climatic conditions. This is why styles and construction materials change from region to region.

Wood – the main traditional material

According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), house facades are finished in wood (13 %), bricks (21 %), plaster (21 %), vinyl (21 %), fibre cement (16 %) and stone (8 %).
With wood so freely available, it has long been the main building material, enabling low cost housing to be built quickly, especially in regions with low temperatures and shorter periods of daylight such as Alaska. Wooden buildings remain more common in the North and along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Today’s buildings with a wooden framework (wooden construction on a concrete slab) and modular homes (factory-assembled wooden walls subsequently erected on site) perpetuate this tradition.

Concrete and metal for specific purposes

In the South, especially in Florida and on the Gulf of Mexico, concrete is recommended to stand up to the frequent strong winds and tornados experienced in the region.
Constructions in metal are also becoming much more popular, especially in Hawaii and the South-West, because of the ease with which they can be transported and their fire-resistant properties.

Architectural styles adapted to climatic conditions

Prevailing climatic conditions influence the materials used for construction and building design.
In regions subject to high snowfall, roofs are steeper and have sturdier frames to prevent snow from building up. Roofs in states without snow are either flat and used as terraces or only have a slight slope, enabling savings to be made in materials, and therefore in cost.