While the scale of the initial pilot is modest, the potential benefits of a successful
program would be tremendous. The pilot
advances the program by testing the extent to which participants are incentivized
to seek designations and by providing
a platform for evaluating the Resilience
STAR concept as a DHS program.
“In addition to assisting in the development and implementation of the pilot project, IBHS also is actively working
with DHS to accelerate and expand creation of significant, non-insurance financial incentives for disaster-resistant buildings. Incentives tied to mortgages, taxes,
building permits, and other financial instruments are critical to widespread acceptance and adoption of resilient building standards for both new and existing
structures,” Rochman emphasized.
This ground-breaking use and promotion
of IBHS’ FORTIFIED standards by DHS is
unprecedented and comes at a fortuitous
time. IBHS will soon publicly announce
that it is scaling up the FORTIFIED Home
program by partnering with firms that
will greatly expand the number of designations that can be made while reducing
the amount of time required to do so, and
streamlining the entire process.
“IBHS looks forward to the day when
many thousands, and ultimately millions
of homes around the country are built
and retrofitted using resilient standards
based on the FORTIFIED construction criteria,” said Rochman. “Residents will be
able to stay in their homes following catastrophes and make necessary repairs, as
opposed to rebuilding the entire house.
Businesses will return to normal operations quickly once a storm has passed.
Both of these outcomes will help maintain the local tax base, and communities
will no l