I am a truss designer.
I'm like an underpaid under qualified structural engineer. I do all the real engineering and the guy with a stamp says it's good.
Discussion
As a person who lives where hurricanes roam, I thank you.
How long are trusses designed to last?
In the vain of a long time preference, I want to build a house that will last 500yrs
Way way way longer than any other wood framing type. Forever if they are used in the right setting. You don't need steel and concrete for everything. Do the exterior with a solid stone or brick and a wood roof and floor truss system is probably the best value engineering (price/performance) we humans have. As long as the exterior is shielded from the elements, a wood floor system will last forever unless it damaged by a natural disaster. An engineered wood truss floor is designed to last forever without sagging over time.
If you call fit the height, you want 24" deep floor trusses at 2' OC for the best Sam floor system you can get for the money.
If you can't go that deep or don't want to spend work as much 18" deep at 19.2" OC will give fantastic results. If you have plans, I'd be glad to take a look at the Susan's and give you a good suggestion.
Hmm, I’ve been considering going with a steel and brick arch floor system like they do in Europe. I hate squeaking
Squeaking come from nail missed through plywood to joist. Nail rubs the member. It can also happen with a good nail with floors with bad deflection. A floor truss can be engineered to have low deflection and you can glue the flooring along the joist and nail it. It won't squeak. You don't even really need the glue with low enough deflection.
Is there any validity to Terrence Howard’s claim that circular buildings are natural disaster proof?
The further away you are from the coast, the more natural disaster proof you are. I can think of a few ways a circular building would benefit in a natural disaster (better aerodynamics...) but they're also more expensive all, more complex, harder to maintain, etc... unless you're building with steel and concrete. Regardless I think proper planning has a lot more to do with natural disaster preparedness than the inherent shape of the building.
Interesting, thanks for the reply 🙏🏽