IBHS Celebrates Leaders in Resilient Construction

RICHBURG, S.C. — The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) announced recipients of its annual FORTIFIED Volume and Pioneer Awards at an event celebrating a breakout year for the FORTIFIED program. FORTIFIED service providers — particularly Volume Award recipients — were instrumental in the program reaching two key milestones.

In 2021, FORTIFIED celebrated its 30,000th designation and set a program record for annual designations by helping nearly 12,000 families better protect their homes from severe weather.

“With increases in both the frequency and intensity of severe weather, it’s imperative Americans take the opportunity to strengthen their homes during new construction or when it is time to reroof,” said IBHS CEO Roy Wright. “Despite the challenges facing the building industry, the companies we honor today continued to provide the information, opportunity and expertise to guide homeowners to make their homes stronger and, in the process, helped further establish FORTIFIED as the national standard for resilient construction.”

The FORTIFIED Home™ program, developed by IBHS and based on decades of research, is a voluntary beyond-code construction and reroofing method that strengthens homes against storms. Each of FORTIFIED’s three levels of protection (Roof, Silver, Gold) has been proven through lab testing and real-world events to reduce the risk of damage from severe weather, including high winds, hail, hurricanes and even tornadoes. The program offers homeowners three elements: the FORTIFIED Home standard, FORTIFIED-trained contractors and a verification process by independent FORTIFIED evaluators to confirm a home has been built or reroofed meeting all requirements.

“Intense and active hurricane seasons in 2020 and 2021 sparked a demand for resilient construction and reroofing, and our network of contractors and evaluators worked tirelessly to meet it,” said FORTIFIED Managing Director Fred Malik. “At the same time, FORTIFIED Pioneers were introducing the program to impacted communities across the country. As a result of this work, thousands of families will have a home to come back to after the next storm.”

With the help of those FORTIFIED Pioneers, partner organizations and other service providers, FORTIFIED grew throughout the Southeast in 2021. That momentum has continued to build into this year, with the program garnering unprecedented interest throughout the country and on track to see its first designations in as many as six states in 2022.

Award Recipients

For the first time, IBHS is presenting a FORTIFIED Pioneer Award to a manufacturer that has demonstrated a commitment to advancing resilient construction. The inaugural recipient is Huber Engineered Woods, recognized for being an innovator in manufacturing products compatible with the FORTIFIED standard, introducing the FORTIFIED program to contractors across the U.S. through training and marketing opportunities and, most recently, increasing visibility of the program and enabling roofing contractors to more easily identify products that meet the FORTIFIED standard by incorporating FORTIFIED branding and installation details on its newest product, Zip System™ Peel and Stick Underlayment.

Also for the first time, IBHS is recognizing government agencies who use the FORTIFIED program to help make their communities more resilient against severe weather. The New Orleans Redevelopment Authority is the first agency in the country to require new construction it funds to meet the beyond-code requirements of FORTIFIED. Similarly, the Louisiana Office of Community Development and the Louisiana Housing Corporation are working together to ensure the 14 multifamily projects funded through the PRIME program meet the FORTIFIED Multifamily standard. Each agency was honored with a Pioneer Award.

FORTIFIED Pioneer Recipients