RI to debut first FORTIFIED house, thanks to CRMC efforts

December 17, 2015, SOUTH KINGSTOWN – Work is nearly finished on the first FORTIFIED home in Rhode Island. The national program, an effort of the Insurance Institute of Business and Home Safety (IBHS), has been introduced in selected states in the southern Atlantic and Gulf Coast region. Through coordination with the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council, R.I. State Building Commission, and University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center and R.I. Sea Grant, IBHS is making Rhode Island the beachhead for the FORTIFIED program in the northern Atlantic states.

The program offers a set of engineering and building standards designed to make new and existing homes more resilient to specific natural hazards, through system-specific upgrades to minimum building code requirements. The program has three levels – bronze, silver and gold – that build upon each other, allowing the homeowner to choose the desired protection level in accordance with budget and resilience goals.

Rhode Island’s first FORTIFIED home, on Teal Drive in South Kingstown, is nearing the end of its construction and hopefully will be soon certified as a gold standard FORTIFIED home. The house was designed and built by Caldwell & Johnson, Inc., Custom Builders and Remodelers, based in North Kingstown.

“There is nothing really remarkable about the Fortified Home program – it encompasses things that the majority of your good contractors already do for the most part, with the added element of third party verification,” said David Caldwell, builder and contractor for the South Kingstown project. “I call it the ‘Brilliance in the Basics’ approach, attention to detail. At the end of the day, the customer has the assurance of a durable home that should enjoy a reduction in insurance premium.”

Jeff Rhodin of Sustainable Energy Analytics, in Lexington, Massachusetts, is the first (and only) FORTIFIED evaluator in the region, and is handling the inspections to the house under the program, and will eventually be the one to grant the certification. It is the hope of the CRMC and the others involved in this project that others in the industry will wish to take part in the program, including being trained as evaluators.

“The CRMC has been actively encouraging the building industry to take part in this voluntary program from day one,” said CRMC Executive Director Grover Fugate. “The Council does not typically ‘endorse’ industry products or programs, but the FORTIFIED program provides the means to build a more resilient housing stock, in a time when we are seeing an ever-increasing need for hurricane and storm event adaptation and resilience. At some point, we will need to retreat from the coast, but until that time comes, Rhode Islanders will want to weather these storm events in the best, safest way possible.”

To encourage participants in the program, the CRMC has continued to work with Caldwell and others in the industry on possible regulatory incentives, and plans to bring the matter before the CRMC’s planning and procedures subcommittee to discuss possible fee relief, expedited permitting, or other measures.

The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) is an independent, nonprofit, scientific research and communications organization supported solely by property insurers and reinsurers. IBHS’ building safety research leads to real-world solutions for home and business owners, helping to create more resilient communities. Its mission is to conduct objective scientific research to identify and promote the most effective ways to strengthen homes, businesses and communities against natural disasters and other causes of loss.

For more information on the IBHS and FORTIFIED, go to the CRMC web site - http://www.crmc.ri.gov/coastalresilience.html.

The first FORTIFIED gold-standard house in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. Special features of the home include continuous load paths (roof to wall connection, wall to floor connection, and floor to foundation connection), bracing on gables, and stormproof windows.
(Photos courtesy RI CRMC)