Lawrence, Kan., April 9, 2026 — A University of Kansas engineer will use the Wall of Wind wind simulation facility at Florida International University to show federal regulators why the nationwide building code for manufactured homes needs an update. The FIU Wall of Wind, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, is part of the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure, also known as the NHERI network.

With the experiment set for May 2026, there is still opportunity for the public, nonprofit groups and private companies to support the project.

Millions of Americans in need of affordable housing live in single- and double-wide mobile homes across the United States. The government and industry refer to this housing stock as “manufactured housing.” These manufactured homes are disproportionately damaged or destroyed in major wind events, according to federal disaster data.

“These are factory-built units – commonly single-wide or double-wide – that are permanently attached to a steel chassis,” said Elaina Sutley, Diane M. Darvin Chair’s Council Associate Professor of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering at the University of Kansas, who is leading the research. “The issue becomes that much more important when considering who lives in manufactured housing. These homes often serve lower-income populations who may not have the resources to recover if they lose their home.”

The KU investigator said that, unlike other building types, which follow codes developed through national consensus processes and are adopted locally, manufactured housing is governed by a federal code, which limits the ability of states and municipalities to modify and amend. 

“Manufactured homes fall under a unique federal building code overseen by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,” Sutley said. “Even regions with high wind risk, like Florida, can’t independently strengthen requirements for the homes themselves. They can modify the installation requirements, which is one of the reasons we’re focusing on this aspect in our testing program.”

Wind provisions governing the design of manufactured homes haven’t changed since 1994. Part of the problem in modernizing HUD building codes has been a lack of supporting research showing inadequacies in the current regulations.

Changes in the code are reviewed by the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee, a federal advisory panel that makes recommendations to HUD, which must then go through a formal rulemaking process.

Sutley said she hoped her findings will influence this process.

“Wind engineering and building standards have advanced significantly, with newer codes for other building types updated as recently as 2022 and moving toward 2028 revisions,” she said. “Despite these advances, manufactured housing hasn’t kept pace. A lack of research has contributed to the stagnation. Efforts to study and improve these standards have historically faced skepticism. In early research proposals, we faced peer reviews that stated ‘you’ll never change manufactured homes’ and ‘manufactured homes aren’t engineered’ as reasons to not fund our research. We persisted, and we have since made headway in this space, but there is more to be done.”
 

Sutley and her collaborators are now eight years into this research with the penultimate tests happening in May. She’s the principal investigator in the Wind Safe Manufactured Housing (WiSH) Project, an effort to put hard data to a common-sense problem: Mobile homes that are not well tethered to the ground are dangerous in high winds. The WiSH Project includes William Collins, Stanley T. and Phyllis W. Rolfe Chair's Council Associate Professor of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, and two graduate students from KU, as well as researchers from the University of Alabama, Florida International University and Texas Tech University.

This May, Sutley’s KU group will travel to FIU, home of the “Wall of Wind,” a 12-fan system that can simulate up to Category 5 hurricane-force winds (157-plus mph). There, she’ll test three “specimens” of manufactured homes against mounting wind speeds.

“The Wall of Wind facility at FIU provides a rare opportunity to test full-scale manufactured homes under realistic conditions,” Sutley said. “Unlike most wind labs, it allows testing outdoors, where homes can be installed on actual ground with real anchoring systems. This is critical for studying how installation methods perform under high winds. Indoor facilities can’t replicate these conditions because they lack soil for anchor installation.”

The KU researcher will use the Wall of Wind to conduct controlled experiments, measuring wind pressures, structural response and failure points under varying conditions.

“Testing will begin with setup and instrumentation, followed by a series of controlled experiments,” she said. “Some tests will focus on measuring wind pressures to validate computational models. Others will involve higher wind speeds to observe physical damage. At wind speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour, nonstructural elements such as skirting and siding are expected to fail. At higher speeds, potentially up to 150 miles per hour, entire units may detach from their supports.”

Sutley hopes the experiments will support extending the more stringent codified wind requirements for manufactured homes in Florida and the Gulf Coast to the entire United States, meaning manufactured homes throughout the country would then be anchored to the ground, helping them to withstand non-hurricane winds and earthquakes. But changes to federal standards would likely take several years, as updates must move through committee review and federal rulemaking.

This research is supported by funding through the Florida Division of Emergency Management, the U.S. National Science Foundation (read the award abstract here), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as from the Applied Technology Council.

But full-scale testing remains expensive, Sutley said.

“Costs include travel, instrumentation, installation and demolition, as well as funding for graduate students to analyze the data,” she said. “Additional support is needed to complete the research and to translate findings into industry practice. This includes developing outreach materials and engaging stakeholders beyond academia.”

The KU researcher said the project is seeking a broad range of partners, including industry participants, disaster recovery stakeholders and individuals with personal connections to manufactured housing. For more information on supporting the project, email Professor Sutley:  enjsutley@ku.edu.

To receive more info about the WiSH program, including details about the livestreamed experiments at the Wall of Wind, sign up here.
 

About the NHERI Wall of Wind at Florida International University

Funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the the NHERI WOW facility is powered by a combined 12-fan system capable of repeatable testing in up to 157 mph wind speeds through its flow management system. The unique advantage of the NHERI WOW is multi-scale (full-scale to 1:400) and high Reynolds number simulation of the effects of wind and wind-driven rain. This is accomplished using the twelve fans and a water spray system. Learn more.

About the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure, NHERI

Funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, NHERI is a national network of university-centered experimental facilities and resources. NHERI facilities are dedicated to reducing damage and loss-of-life due to natural hazards such as earthquakes, landslides, windstorms, wildfires, tsunamis and storm surge. A vital resource, NHERI provides researchers in the natural hazards engineering and social science communities with state-of-the-art laboratories, data, cyberinfrastructure, equipment, and training needed to meet the research challenges of the 21st century. NHERI is supported by multiple grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation. Learn more.

Related Links

---

Wind Safe Manufactured Housing (WiSH) Project

Disaster HOPE Lab at KU

NHERI Wall of Wind at FIU