GreatRoom Shelters

GreatRoom Shelters is a line of tornado shelters/safe rooms which meet the highest design and manufacturing standards as promulgated by the International Code Council, FEMA and the National Storm Shelter Association (NSSA), to provide “near absolute life-safety” during tornadoes, including EF-5’s with wind speeds of 250 mph. Our patent-pending design utilizes laminated heavy timbers, hardened with steel, to resist the enormous positive and negative pressures and extreme missile impacts that occur during the most violent tornadoes. Our system is the first one to successfully pass all these tests and be made of natural wood, in this case, renewable southern pine. Wood applied to long-lived assets becomes a carbon sink, effectively storing carbon out of the atmosphere for 100 or more years, and is essentially carbon negative making our shelters the ‘greenest’ shelters on the market. Our shelters are room-sized with 8’ wall height and offer multi-purpose space for activities of daily life, and can be finished to match the home. The system has been approved as a stand-alone shelter to be added to existing homes, and is being adapted for use as a room in new construction, rooms added during residential retro-fits, and for group shelters for up to 149 people.