New Storm Research Center Set For South Carolina

The Institute for Business & Home Safety announced yesterday it will build a $27 million multi-peril research facility to identify methods of minimizing natural disaster risks and losses faced by homes, businesses, and communities.

Funded entirely by insurers and reinsurers, the new Insurance Center for Building Safety Research is to be built in Chester County, S.C.

The facility will have the ability to subject 1,800 square foot, two-story homes and light commercial construction to a variety of hazards, including realistic Category 3 hurricanes with winds from 111 mph to 130 mph, wind-blown fire (mimicking wildfire embers), and hailstorms.

“Chester County, South Carolina, as it turns out, is the perfect location for our research facility,” said Julie Rochman, IBHS president and chief executive officer.

“We had very specific needs because our lab will be a unique, world-class operation, and it was not easy to find the right home. We couldn't be happier with the results of our long search,” she said in a statement.

IBHS said it purchased 90 acres of land along South Carolina Highway 99 from Chester County. The organization evaluated many sites in several states but chose this location because it fulfilled key search criteria, including:

o A location more than 100 miles from the coast with a very mild climate to accommodate year-round testing and to preserve the “inventory” of structures kept on the campus.

o More than 35 acres for a campus encompassing a laboratory, an office building, and a “street” on which to park structures between tests.

o No height restrictions precluding structures 80 feet tall.

o Sufficient natural noise reduction features or land upon which artificial noise barriers could be constructed.

o A location directly adjacent to a 100 kilovolt power transmission line carrying electricity generated by renewable resources and able to house a transformer/sub-station.

o A site close to other centers of excellence, academic institutions, relevant business sectors, and relatively close to a major interstate with airport access.

“We welcome the Institute for Business & Home Safety and fully support the creation of a new one-of-a-kind multi-peril research facility to be located here in Chester County,” said R. Carlisle Roddey, Chester County supervisor, in a statement.

“We look forward to being a supportive partner in making IBHS a premiere source for quality information that improves building and home safety. The leadership of Chester County remains committed to economic development to encourage new industry investment for the purpose of improving each citizen's prosperity and overall quality of life,” Mr. Roddey added.

Odell Associates Inc., based in Charlotte, N.C., has been chosen to lead the architectural/engineering design team for the state-of-the-art facility, which should be complete in 2010, IBHS said.

The Institute said a two-track research program will allow it to address catastrophes as well as more isolated but expensive maintenance-related issues, like plumbing system failure and interior fires.

The research findings will be used in aggressive consumer education and advocacy campaigns and supply vital data for developing public policies in areas such as building codes and land use, said IBHS.

Using building science to develop real-world approaches to reduce the risks posed by natural disasters and other perils is the focus of IBHS.

Events in recent years, including tornadoes, hurricanes and wildfires, have given its researchers opportunities for field work, during which they have learned much about how to better engineer structures against certain risks, IBHS said.

But the organization noted that knowledge gaps remain, however, that can be filled only with testing in controlled environments, which the new research center will provide.