IBHS Building $44 Million Lab To Simulate Disaster Effects

NU Online News Service, Sept. 16, 1:47 p.m. EDT

Ground was broken today in Chester, S.C., for a $44 million disaster laboratory that can test structures for resistance to hurricane winds, wildfires and hail.

The disaster safety research center project is being built for the insurer-funded Institute for Business & Home Safety.

IBHS said its facility is "unique in all the world" and will have the ability to subject full-size, 2,000-square-foot, one- and two-story homes, light commercial construction and agricultural buildings to hazards, including realistic Category 3 hurricanes, wind-blown fire, mimicking wildfire embers, and hailstorms.

The primary purpose of the lab, funded entirely by property insurance companies, reinsurers and brokers, "is to identify effective methods of minimizing risk and loss to homes, businesses and communities resulting from natural disasters," IBHS said.

IBHS President and Chief Executive Officer Julie Rochman said, "When finished next year, this research facility will effectively represent a quantum leap forward for building science. IBHS will be able to meticulously recreate a variety of natural catastrophes in a very controlled, repeatable environment. This will allow us to identify and evaluate various building material and construction techniques and systems in ways that have only been dreamed of by scientists, public policymakers and industry for many years."

Ms. Rochman said construction of the research center is extremely complex, but the assembled team of professionals is on track to complete construction of "this historic undertaking" by spring 2010.

The project involves Odell Associates (architect), Walter P. Moore (structural engineers), United Engineering Group (mechanical, electrical and plumbing), and Holder Construction (general contractor).

Ms. Rochman said all of IBHS research will be made publicly available so that consumers and builders will know which products and systems provide the best protection against wind, water, fire and hail. This will be done both by creation of written reports and via high-speed, high-definition video of the tests that will be shared with media and on the Web.

IBHS calls itself a leader in using building science to develop real-world approaches to reduce the risks posed by natural disasters and other perils.

The organization said that events in recent years--including tornadoes, hurricanes and wildfires--have given their researchers opportunities for field work, during which they have learned much about how to better engineer structures against certain risks.

"There remain, however, knowledge gaps that can be filled only with testing in controlled environments, which the new research center will provide," IBHS said.

A Web camera at the construction site takes photos every 15 minutes and provides time-lapse capabilities to see the progress of the facility's construction over time. It can be viewed online at http://oxblue.com/pro/open/ibhs/catastrophelab.

Financial contributions for the lab come from: Alfa Insurance; Allstate Insurance Company; American Agricultural Insurance Company; American Family Insurance; American Insurance Association; Amica Insurance; Andover Companies; AAA-The Auto Club Group; AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah; Auto-Owners Insurance Company; Bankers Insurance Group; COUNTRY Financial; Enumclaw Insurance Group; Erie Insurance; Farm Bureau Mutual Group; Farmers Insurance Group; Florida Farm Bureau Insurance Group; Gen Re; Guy Carpenter; The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company; HomeWise; Interinsurance Exchange of the Automobile Club; IPCRe Limited; Liberty Mutual Insurance Group; The Main Street America Group; MetLife Auto & Home; Mississippi Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company; Munich Re; Munich Re America; National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies; Nationwide Insurance; Norfolk & Dedham Group; OneBeacon Insurance Group; Property Casualty Insurers Association of America; Quincy Mutual; RenaissanceRe Risk Sciences Foundation; South Carolina Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company; South Carolina Wind & Hail Underwriting Association; State Farm Insurance Companies; Swiss Re; Travelers; USAA; and Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance.

The Institute's listed mission is "to reduce the social and economic effects of natural disasters and other property losses by conducting research and advocating improved construction, maintenance and preparation practices."