The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) has initiated a long-term aging program to study performance of aged roofing materials when subjected to severe weather, high wind or impact tests.
Several IBHS closed claims studies show that older buildings have higher claim frequencies in a variety of natural disasters. In some cases, this may be due to changes in building codes requiring stronger construction for new buildings. In other instances, it could be due to degradation of building materials or poor maintenance practices for older buildings.
Improve roof vulnerability assessments
Many roofing products are known to degrade over time, with the amount of degradation expected to vary with the local environment. Controlled aging of roofs in various climates coupled with systematic testing for wind and impact resistance provide needed data to improve vulnerability assessments.
Most recently, American Modern Insurance Group launched a roof farm as part of the larger program to study the performance of aging roofs when subjected to different climates over extended periods of time. American Modern's headquarters is the third organization to install a roof farm, joining IBHS, which has one on its Research Center campus in Richburg, S.C., and American Family Insurance, which has a roof farm at its headquarters in Madison, Wis.
"We know that roofing is impacted by aging, but this is the first research project that addresses the long-term effects of aging on roof performance," said Dr. Tanya Brown, IBHS lead research engineer and director of hail research. "Many roofing products are known to degrade over time, depending on the local environment. Controlled aging of roofs in various climates along with systematic testing of wind and impact resistance at five-year intervals will provide us with the data needed to improve vulnerability assessments."
IBHS roof farm located at their Research Center campus in Richburg, South Carolina. (Courtesy of IBHS)
In 2013, IBHS constructed four replicates of six different asphalt shingles, for a total of 24 roof specimens on the roof farm at the IBHS Research Center. Additional roof farms will be added in other geographic locations over time to expand the amount of climate exposure data.
The roof aging study will be conducted over a 25-year period with roofs being studied every 5, 10, 15 and 20 years. Over the next several years, IBHS will expand the roof farm by adding additional roofs with different asphalt shingle materials and other common residential roofing materials.
Length of time and climate effects may both play a major role in the aging of certain materials.
Roof snow research farm. (Courtesy of IBHS)
The IBHS Roof Farm was developed to ensure consistent designs and focused variability. In order to fully understand climate effects on roofing products, a number of instruments have been placed on the specimens and they will be monitored for the full project duration. Each specimen includes multiple panels to allow for repetition in wind and impact testing. Each specimen features north-facing and south-facing panels to examine differences due to incident solar radiation.
Specimens are constructed as a "set" with several new and aged panels to allow for comparisons with the aging time frames.
American Family Insurance roof research farm located in Madison, Wisconsin. (Courtesy of IBHS)
IBHS is interested in collaborating with partners who are willing to construct and install duplicate specimens and similar instrumentation systems at their respective locations. IBHS will supply necessary construction drawings to ensure the specimens constructed on collaborators' land are consistent with the original specimens constructed at the IBHS Research Center.
A list of construction materials will also be supplied. IBHS staff will work with collaborators to choose the appropriate system and will supply a list of all instrumentation components and configuration specifications. IBHS staff will provide support to collaborators during the instrumentation construction and installation processes.
Participants will be asked to maintain the specimens and periodically send data to IBHS. It is possible to configure the automated instrumentation option to send data directly to IBHS with the purchase and installation of additional components and monthly subscription costs. The manual download option requires participants to task personnel with battery maintenance and data collection.
To learn more about the roof project, visit IBHS Roof Farms: Effects of Long-Term Aging.
American Modern roof farm grand opening in Amelia, Ohio. (Courtesy of IBHS)
American Modern Insurance Group is working with IBHS on a research project to help determine how weather in the northern part of the U.S. impacts a variety of roofing materials through the installation of a roof aging farm on its Amelia, Ohio, campus.
The roof farm consists of four 15' x 15' structures each equipped with multiple panels that will be evaluated over time to determine which kinds of roofs better resist weather damage and how different climates play a part. A solar-powered on-site weather station will continually collect data, documenting temperatures, humidity and solar radiation levels.
To mark the launching of the project, American Modern held a grand opening at the roof farm site, located at its headquarters in Amelia, on May 20, 2015.
"This project will help American Modern and IBHS learn more about roofing materials and promote construction standards that can over time help homeowners save money on roof repairs and replacements," according to Kevin Randall, senior vice president property and casualty for American Modern. "A bonus is that these structures can be used by our employees as a covered area to enjoy lunch outside during nice weather."
[Related: Leaky logic: Roof damage case hinges on broker's 'special relationship']
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