The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) expanded FORTIFIED, a voluntary, beyond-code, resilient construction program, to include the multifamily sector. The standard is geared to homes built or retrofitted to perform better in severe weather, including powerful high winds and heavy rain from thunderstorms, derechos, hurricanes, and tornadoes.
IBHS says it will offer its FORTIFIED Home certification courses for free to nonprofit organizations building homes for families with low to moderate incomes. It will also eliminate the small administrative fee it collects to review and process FORTIFIED designations for single-family homes built by nonprofit organizations for families with low to moderate incomes.
In addition, IBHS will advance research-based affordable resilience solutions, including guidance on ways to make manufactured and modular homes more resilient through public policy initiatives. The organization will continue to collaborate with insurance companies, federal, state, local, and tribal entities, nonprofits, and others who build or have a shared interest in resilient homes and strengthened communities.
To achieve certification, builders and contractors must adhere to strict construction standards developed by IBHS to minimize damage from severe weather. Key resiliency features must be verified and documented by an independent, third-party evaluator.
Related Stories
| Jan 8, 2014
Architect sentenced to a year in jail for firefighter's death
Architect Gerhard Becker was sentenced to a year in LA county jail after pleading no contest to the manslaughter of a firefighter who died while trying to contain a fire in a home the architect had designed for himself.
| Jan 8, 2014
United Association, NRDC seek major plumbing code changes
Proposed changes include mandating the insulation of hot water piping in new buildings.
| Jan 2, 2014
EPA move to assert oversight on small bodies of water among top regulatory battles for 2014
The EPA has started the process of declaring that it has the power to regulate streams, brooks, and small ponds.
| Jan 2, 2014
Paseo Verde in Philadelphia is nation’s first LEED Platinum neighborhood development
Paseo Verde, a mixed-use, mixed-income community hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony last month.
| Jan 2, 2014
Green infrastructure prominent in Akron, Ohio's sewer plans
City officials in Akron, Ohio want to prevent stormwater from entering its combined sewer system through the use of green infrastructure.
| Jan 2, 2014
OSHA to hold public meeting on proposed rule to improve tracking of workplace injuries
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has scheduled a public meeting to allow interested parties to comment on the proposed rule to improve tracking of workplace injuries and illnesses.
| Jan 2, 2014
Measuring whole building energy use among big changes in LEED v4
A new prerequisite in LEED v4 calls for each project to measure whole building energy use, and then share that data with USGBC.
| Jan 1, 2014
San Francisco hosts Net Positive Energy + Water Conference
The Living Building Challenge’s Net Positive Energy + Water Conference will be held Feb. 4-5 in San Francisco.
| Dec 27, 2013
California’s new Title 24 energy code compliance date pushed back to July 1, 2014
Due to the stringency of the provisions in California’s new Title 24 energy codes, their implementation has been postponed until July 1, 2014 to allow jurisdictions and engineers to prepare for them.
| Dec 27, 2013
$1 billion 'city within a city' development approved by Coachella, Calif., city council
The mega development includes 7,800 homes, a retail center, office space, and nearly 350 acres of open space.
