Property Insurers to Build Natural Disaster Research Center

The insurance industry is preparing to build a state-of-the-art applied research facility that promises to use science and technology to expand capabilities to create more durable homes and businesses and reduce the costs of natural disasters.

The Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), an insurance industry-supported nonprofit engineering and communications group in Tampa, Fla., will construct the Insurance Center for Building Safety Research with funds from its insurer and reinsurer members.

IBHS is evaluating several potential sites for the center, which it anticipates will require about a 100-acre parcel. Selection criteria include a mild climate to allow for year-round research activities as well as access to significant amounts of electricity through a plant or substation. Construction is scheduled to begin later this year.

The center will feature full-scale testing of buildings and construction components. Its two-track research program will address catastrophic issues, such as high winds and wind-driven water intrusion, earthquakes and hail, as well as maintenance-related issues like plumbing system failure and interior fires.

The findings will be used in consumer education and advocacy campaigns, and to supply data to developing public policies in areas such as building codes and land use.

“Unfortunately, more people and property are in harm’s way in this country than ever before,” said Julie Rochman, IBHS president and CEO. “Mother Nature reminds us daily that we have to find ways to better protect the places where we live and work — and we will have greatly increased capacity and capability to do that through the new insurance industry research center.”

She said the center’s first priority would be to examine roofing performance issues. IBHS estimates that damage to the roofing system is present in as much as 95 percent of properties that suffer wind and water-related losses.

“Roof failures and the damage done by water that can get in afterward can be a major headache and huge expense,” said Dr. Timothy Reinhold, IBHS director of engineering, who will lead the center’s research team. “But with more realistic test methods and better knowledge about variables such as installation differences and how aging affects the performance of roof systems, we could save lots of money and aggravation.”

Reinhold noted that “property owners should quickly reap the benefits of this research, since roofs are the most frequently replaced component of buildings.” Each dollar spent on disaster mitigation saves society an average of four dollars, he said.

The center will also work with other researchers. IBHS is already working with the University of Colorado and Pennsylvania State University on wildfire research and with the California Institute of Technology and University of California on earthquake research. It is also working on wind-driven water research with colleges in Florida.