




In the first year of its three-year Strategy26, IBHS made significant strides in transforming science into practical solutions. Through its innovative research, engaging collaborations and policy influence, IBHS empowered property owners to prevent avoidable structural damage and drove change to break the cycle of destruction.
2024 saw the earliest Category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record, Hurricane Beryl, which marked an explosive start to the season. The compounding effects of disasters were evident when Hurricanes Milton and Helene made landfall in Florida within two weeks of each other. The West Coast continued to suffer from wildfire conflagrations, while extreme drought led to increased wildfire activity in northeastern states. And severe convective storms drove significant losses again.
IBHS research on these severe weather and wildfire incidents was at the forefront, highlighted by our Lahaina study, flagship Rating the States report, hail and hurricane field deployments, Wildfire Prepared Neighborhood development, accessory dwelling unit (ADU) testing, interior water paper, building code influence and in-market events. By connecting laboratory experiments with field observations, IBHS’s groundbreaking research across the perils delivered timely insights, strengthened building codes and offered actionable, science-based mitigation strategies to bend down the risk curve and build up resilient communities.
FORTIFIED
FORTIFIED
Breaking records yet again
IBHS hit another FORTIFIED milestone in 2024, with more than 17,000 properties earning a FORTIFIED designation, the highest single-year figure in program history. With FORTIFIED’s rapid growth in recent years, total designations have surpassed 70,000 across 31 states. This year, FORTIFIED generated more than 1,400 designations a month, ahead of the pace necessary to double total designations in three years and reach 120,000 by EOY 2026. The program’s submission volume rose 160% in the 12 months starting 2023.
Key established markets – such as coastal Alabama, North Carolina and Louisiana – continued to experience steady growth aided by state grant programs, while advancements in inland markets have expanded FORTIFIED’s reach to new audiences outside of the hurricane coast.


- This year, Alabama celebrated a landmark 50,000 FORTIFIED designations in the state, solidifying its commitment to resilient construction and success as FORTIFIED’s largest market. The state set an annual redesignation record with nearly 2,800 property owners renewing their certificates as required after five years, demonstrating the continued relevance of the program.
- In 2024, a record 4,600+ North Carolina homeowners received a FORTIFIED designation, nearly doubling the prior record.
- Momentum generated by the Fortify Louisiana Homes program helped establish the state as the fastest growing FORTIFIED market, with more than 4,000 designations issued.
- Georgia joined other coastal states recognizing the need for resilience and market incentives for insureds to choose FORTIFIED.
- The first FORTIFIED Home designations were issued in Indiana, and the first FORTIFIED Multifamily designations were issued in Texas, Iowa and Mississippi.
FORTIFIED funding grows
In addition to state public investment for FORTIFIED, funding opportunities to encourage more resilient construction by building to the standard also grew in 2024:
- The North Carolina Underwriting Insurance Association (NCIUA) continued its long-time support of FORTIFIED Roof retrofits by increasing its Strengthen Your Roof (SYR) grant funding pool and raising individual grant amounts to $10,000.
- Oklahoma and Kentucky developed grant programs with initial awards slated for 2025. Mississippi appropriated $5 million to create a grant program based on long existing but dormant legislation. Minnesota moved forward with establishing infrastructure to support its FORTIFIED Roof grant program.
- The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas increased funding fourfold for its FORTIFIED fund grant program.
- The Connecticut Green Bank required all standalone re-roofing projects funded with C-PACE loans – a low-cost financing mechanism for commercial properties, traditionally used for energy efficiency projects – to use the FORTIFIED Roof standard. C-PACE loan program rules also incentivized FORTIFIED Multifamily and Commercial standards for new construction and resilient retrofits.
Building a FORTIFIED future
FORTIFIED’s future growth is centered around building strategic alliances, continuing grant programs, expanding program incentives and increasing investment. Strategic alliances like IBHS’s collaboration with North America’s leading roofing manufacturer GAF Roofing, which was crafted in 2024 and will be announced in early 2025, allow the program to leverage existing networks of established potential providers. IBHS’s work with nonprofit organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, SBP and Team Rubicon continue to provide FORTIFIED with pioneering early adopters, as Habitat affiliates are responsible for nearly all the designations so far in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Kentucky and SBP for one of the first FORTIFIED Multifamily designations earned in Texas. Cultivating grant programs in additional inland states and increasing philanthropic investment will multiply the program’s outreach, especially in designations from inland markets where IBHS has a goal to increase total designations by 25% by the end of 2026.
WILDFIRE PREPARED
WILDFIRE PREPARED HOME
Taking Wildfire Prepared Home to the next level
In the program’s second year, Wildfire Prepared Home topped 1,000 designations in California while designations began being issued in Oregon. IBHS stands ready to expand the program to other states as driven by Member rate filings, state grant programs and volume builder interest.
As Wildfire Prepared Home applications increased, IBHS streamlined the submission process to help smooth the homeowner experience. New online tools allow applicants to track progress toward achieving a certificate in real time while also expediting the evaluation process, reducing the average time from application to designation by 20%. Working with San Francisco-based software and service provider Wuuii, California homeowners in the company’s Madronus Wildfire Defense network now have a new full-service option to complete mitigation actions and earn the designation.
Behavioral research shows many homeowners in wildfire-prone areas are slow to adopt mitigation strategies due to a concern for reducing a property’s visual attraction. In response, IBHS collaborated with CSAA and the University of California, Berkeley for a design contest to show curb appeal and reduced risk can go hand in hand. The winning designs – available on IBHS’s Wildfire Prepared Home website – feature full-landscape designs achieved at various budget levels with an emphasis on a noncombustible Zone 0 consistent with Wildfire Prepared Home.



Wildfire Prepared Home in the field
Conducting events in the field is a key strategy for growing awareness of Wildfire Prepared Home and showing the effectiveness of science-based mitigation actions. In March, IBHS returned to Paradise, California, where the program was launched in 2022, for an announcement of Habitat for Humanity of Butte County’s commitment to build to Wildfire Prepared Home Plus. Camp Fire survivor and new homeowner Bradly Reinhart said, “We get to feel safe again. We feel like if anything does happen where we must leave, we get to still hopefully come back to a home.”
In the following months, IBHS collaborated with state and national leaders to bring property owners, wildfire community leaders and policymakers into the peril through a series of Wildfire Prepared Home burn demonstrations across western states:
- April’s collaboration with the Idaho Department of Insurance at NAIC’s Western Zone Wildfire Risk Forum provided western state insurance commissioners and their staffs with an up-close look at the difference a system of science-based wildfire mitigation actions, especially a noncombustible Zone 0, can make. IBHS Chief Engineer Anne Cope also shared IBHS wildfire research in a separate presentation.
- In May, California State Fire Marshall Daniel Berlant invited IBHS to kick off CAL FIRE’s Wildfire Preparedness Week with a live Wildfire Prepared Home demo in Roseville.
- The following month, IBHS joined forces with the California Building Industry Association (CBIA) to demonstrate the value of wildfire resilience to builders on the front line of the construction industry at the 2024 Pacific Coast Builders Conference. In addition to the burn, IBHS Senior Director for Wildfire Steve Hawks took builders through a deep dive of IBHS research, a session repeated as an encore CBIA member webinar later in the year.
- A live Wildfire Prepared Home burn demonstration in September at the Marin County (CA) Ember Stomp Festival, which attracted 5,000 attendees, gave homeowners a firsthand look at how mitigation actions reduce wildfire risk.
Creating Wildfire Prepared Neighborhood
Unlike other perils, when impacted by wildfire, the built environment can heavily influence the path of destruction by serving as a fuel source, influencing fire behavior and governing fire spread. This year, IBHS built upon the growing body of science supporting its parcel-level designation program to develop the Wildfire Prepared Neighborhood Standard, a system of neighborhood protections that meaningfully reduces the probability of conflagration while also providing a benchmark for understanding the risk of conflagration in communities.
Recognizing all neighborhoods are different, the standard is the first performance-based design approach at the community scale for any natural hazard based on four core principles:
- reduce ignition probabilities from flames and radiant heat from external fuels,
- protect from ember attack,
- slow fire spread and
- allow the neighborhood to act as a passive fuel break from fire in all directions.
Delivering a real-world solution, Wildfire Prepared Neighborhood integrates the latest wildfire research – including our ongoing study of wind-driven structure-to-structure fire spread. The standard’s system of mitigation requirements accounts for varying external fuel exposures, structure spacing and connective fuel conditions to holistically reduce ember-driving ignition, slow or halt structure-to-structure fire spread and reduce the probability of conflagration.
In 2025, IBHS will determine benchmarks for mitigation actions that positively affect one of the standard’s principles as well begin testing the standard, allowing IBHS Members and stakeholders to provide feedback.
Engaging the wildfire public policy space
Through expert testimony in Colorado and Oregon, in-person engagements with lawmakers in Hawaii and New Mexico, and a close partnership with policymakers in California, IBHS continued to deliver science-backed mitigation solutions across the U.S. to reduce wildfire risk and support healthy insurance markets. In Colorado, legislation banned HOAs from prohibiting wildfire mitigation actions consistent with wildfire standards like Wildfire Prepared Home.
New lanes of funding wildfire mitigation actions are also advancing. In Central California, the Neighborhood Partnership Housing Services – NPHS – launched a pilot loan program for Wildfire Prepared Home retrofits.

RESEARCH


RESEARCH
Through the roof
The roof. It’s always been about the roof: the first line of defense regardless of the peril – high wind, heavy rain, hail, or wildfire. This year, IBHS developed Roofing Roadmaps, leveraging decades of research and investigation to level the information playing field about aging and performance of asphalt shingles, metal and tile.
For key stakeholders – manufacturers, roofers, homeowners, and insurers – the answer relies on different motivations like the product’s variability, performance, age, cost and/or market share.
For a given homeowner, it’s a function of location, peril, and cost.
Accounting for 86% of re-roofs across the United States, asphalt shingles perpetuate the cycle of dominance. IBHS’s data shows they are the wild card, showing the most variance and unpredictability.
Metal and tile provide steady performance. Use of metal roof covers continues to slowly grow, exceeding 10% market share for new construction in the last decade. For tile roofs, aesthetics and regional architectural preferences drive the market despite improvements in tile roofing performance for wind and hail.
Yet, the real challenge is ensuring accurate information in the marketplace.
In early 2025, IBHS will launch a robust AI-aided digital site, making our research easy to access for science-based decision making.
WILDFIRE
Lahaina Conflagration Study
After a 2023 post-fire investigation deployment to Lahaina, IBHS returned this year to share preliminary findings with Hawaiian policymakers and discuss effective mitigation strategies. The 2023 Lahaina Conflagration study identified three main factors – structure density, connective fuels and building materials – as critical in having caused the rapid conflagration. The report concluded a system of mitigation strategies, including developing communities with greater structure separation, removing combustible connective fuels and hardening properties against ember and flame exposures, is needed to mitigate devastation seen in the Lahaina Fire.

ADU wildfire burns: full-scale experiments providing real-life solutions
IBHS completed the final experiments on fire spread from sheds to nearby buildings and then broadened the project’s scope to study 625-square-foot accessory dwelling units (ADUs). Collaborating with CAL FIRE in this phase of the project, IBHS is continuing its multi-year wind-driven building-to-building fire spread research to better understand the impact of spacing between structures to wildfire risk. IBHS scientists are changing weather wind speed, as well as exterior building materials of the accessory dwelling units, ignition sources and distances to a target structure to determine how the “domino effect” of suburban conflagration can best be prevented.
Cone calorimeter: increasing our wildfire testing capabilities
Helping our wildfire researchers better predict real-time, full-scale fire behavior, IBHS installed a cone calorimeter at the Research Center. The analytical instrument determines ignition time, heat release rate, mass loss rate and flammability characteristics of various materials and aids in our study to quantify flammability of materials that make up a building’s exterior envelope. Specific exposures from large scale observations can be replicated on the cone to reproduce exposures and results at a smaller scale, better understanding repeatability and performance of products.
The cone calorimeter allows us to empirically determine material properties like critical heat flux for ignition and thermal conductivity that relate to material performance in a wildfire scenario. Though more work is required to increase our dataset and determined values, these properties get us closer to predicting material performance and estimating ignition times to complement measurements in our full-scale wind-driven building-to-building experiments.

Additional wildfire research
- Through a collaboration with the University of Buffalo, IBHS is exploring how fire spreads through a simulated neighborhood including how different levels of mitigation could slow fire spread and ultimately prevent conflagration from taking hold. These computer-based simulations helped IBHS develop the core design principles for the IBHS Wildfire Prepared Neighborhood mitigation standard to be released in 2025.
- IBHS’s External Sprinkler Systems for Wildfire Defense white paper raises important questions about the effectiveness of external sprinkler systems in wildfire conditions and cites the need for standard performance criteria development through research before these systems can reliably be implemented at neighborhood scales for risk reduction.

WIND AND WIND-DRIVEN RAIN
Devastating hurricane season
Destruction from the 2024 hurricane season arrived early with an explosive start from Hurricane Beryl countered with a late-season one-two punch from Hurricanes Helene – where the greatest impact was seen inland far away from the coast – and Milton, highlighting the negative effects of climate change and compounding weather events.
Taking action to capture real-world data
IBHS researchers utilized the Precipitation-particle Imaging Probe (PIP) tower to capture storm data in real time, informing IBHS’s foundational work on wind-driven rain, specifically raindrop size and concentration. The PIP tower was deployed three times, ahead of Florida’s landfalling Hurricanes Debby and Helene, as well as before Hurricane Francine made landfall in Louisiana.
A Hurricane Helene Early Insights report coupled findings from these three field studies, as well as 2023’s deployment ahead of Hurricane Idalia, to provide a look at the often hidden role of wind-driven rain as a damage amplifier. Helene’s more severe and devastating damaging winds, widespread treefall and catastrophic flooding further inland were reminders of the importance of mitigation strategies across all communities.
Flagship research: Rating the States
IBHS issued the fifth edition of its flagship Rating the States report, evaluating building code adoption, enforcement and contractor licensing in the 18 states along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Texas to Maine. Issued every three years, the 2024 edition unveiled a new top-ranking state with a record score. Report highlights include:
- After two consecutive second-place finishes, Virginia topped the rankings with a record-setting score of 96. The state climbed back to the top spot after adopting the 2021 International Residential Code (IRC) and improving training programs for code officials and contractors.
- Florida, which had held the top spot since 2018 and matched its 2021 score of 95, placed second. South Carolina — identified as the “state to watch” in the 2021 report — ranked third with New Jersey following in fourth.
- Louisiana jumped three spots to fifth place after making training mandatory for code officials and adopting the 2021 IRC. The state also showed its commitment to resilient construction and re-roofing when it launched the Fortify Louisiana Homes program.
- Mississippi had the biggest overall improvement since 2021, gaining 15 points by requiring licensing, competency testing and continuing education for contractors. However, these requirements do not apply to roofers and the state, ranked 15th, is still in the bottom third of the ratings.

HAIL
Multi-state hail field study
The IBHS 2024 Hail Field Study team traveled eight states and 8,700 miles over 10 days to collect data from 14 storms. This year researchers unveiled new methods to collect data, including a wind-driven hail probe and deployable roof panels to explore the durability of roof materials in real hailstorms. The team again worked to map hail swaths using our fleet of rapidly deployable impact disdrometers to capture hail size distribution and concentration data.
This year’s field study aimed to better understand the performance of newer roofing materials on the market, such as F-Wave synthetic composite shingles. Marketed as a non-asphalt alternative with up to a 190-mph wind rating, F-Wave shingles were used on roof panels during this year’s field study with analysis continuing into next year.
Working with Canadian hail experts
Researchers from Canada’s Northern Hail Project (NHP) at Western University joined IBHS hail experts at IBHS’s Research Center in early 2024 to compare and test instruments ahead of spring field studies for both teams. In late summer, IBHS team members joined NHP during its hail field deployments in Alberta, Canada, which has led to collaborative opportunities examining hail damage from roofs impacted by the August Calgary hailstorm, Canada’s most costly hailstorm to date.
Groundbreaking hail research funded
IBHS’s close collaboration with Members to raise awareness of the need for more extensive hail research to combat growing losses led to the successful funding by the National Science Foundation this year for a major 2025 hail research project. The In Situ Collaborative Experiment for the Collection of Hail in the Plains (referred to as ICECHIP) will be the first multi-institution, large field campaign solely focused on hail and hailstorms since 1978. The project has come to fruition after nearly five years of delays due to the pandemic and other operational factors.
The project – which will incorporate IBHS’s annual hail field program for 2025 – will include over 100 researchers working to close critical gaps in hail research by studying hail and hailstorms in greater detail than ever before. Data collected from the ICECHIP project will be used at the IBHS Research Center to guide future laboratory experiments, especially full-scale hailstorm simulations in the large test chamber, and testing of the durability of high performing roofing materials to actual concentrations of hail captured in the field and in small laboratory tests.



ADDITIONAL RESEARCH
Single-ply membrane testing
Wind loads on single-ply membranes were studied in the IBHS test chamber in early 2024 to examine the wind loads’ resistance in different system installation types: fully adhered and mechanically attached. Internal pressures were found to significantly alter which components (fasteners) resist wind loads between the two installation methods, a significant implication for design. Damage to the coverboards in the fully adhered system highlights how the same type of roof can have different damage modes based on different installation styles. This type of testing is critical to ensure we are designing for the right failure modes for each roof cover type and installation method.
Roof Aging Farm advancements
This year, IBHS harvested and began testing the first set of 10-year asphalt shingle samples from 118 roof huts across five states to further advance understanding of the effect of aging on performance against wind, fire and hail. Hail testing of the 10-year specimens revealed new damage modes – resulting in water penetrating through the shingle to the layer below – not previously observed in the 5-year samples.
Interior water report
Responding to the ongoing issue of interior water damage driving insurance claims, IBHS released a “State of the Risk” report to identify reoccurring loss drivers, including the effects of weather and climate, regional construction practices and inflation on repair costs. Although winters are shorter, arctic air outbreaks continue to drive losses as do design trends such as open floor plans, more full bathrooms and locating laundry rooms and hot water heaters on upper floors.
Real-life research opportunities in IBHS’s backyard
- The year started off with an EF-2 tornado hitting the small rural town of Bamberg, SC, a little more than 100 miles south of IBHS’s Research Center. IBHS researchers accompanied the Columbia National Weather Service team to assess structural damage in the field, including examples of siding failures around windows and shingle damage.
- An April storm in Rock Hill, SC, provided a research opportunity for high concentrations of severe wind-driven hail close to home for the IBHS Research Center. IBHS scientists worked with Verisk to identify the extent of visible damage and spatially compared hail swaths to locations of damage reports and observations. Findings will be shared in a report for Members in 2025.
Resilience for All
- In 2024, over 700 designations – 4% of the year’s total – were earned by nonprofit organizations who took advantage of IBHS waiving their audit fee.
- Families with low to moderate incomes are often disproportionately impacted by natural disasters so IBHS has emphasized seeking opportunities to ensure better access for all to our science-backed mitigation programs. A 2024 IBHS policy paper explored the benefits of FORTIFIED roofs on Section 8 multifamily and single-family housing could bring. Focusing on the Atlantic and Gulf coast regions, the study projected losses could decrease by 30 to 50%.
- The FORTIFIED team has provided ongoing support for affordable housing development – required by Louisiana Housing Corporation and incentivized by Mississippi Home Corporation for projects funded with low-income housing credits. Likewise, the Affordable Housing Program of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas incentivizes FORTIFIED.
MEMBER ENGAGEMENT



MEMBER ENGAGEMENT
Bringing IBHS Members into the perils
This year, IBHS’s Membership grew while 99% of existing IBHS Members renewed for 2025; a testament to the value you see in our research and outreach. IBHS continues to ensure Members receive exclusive value from their investment through field study data, designation program data access and dialogue with researchers and experts in public policy, building codes and more.
This year we provided more opportunities for immersive experiences at the Research Center, both through multi-Member events and individual Member company visits, helping our Members apply IBHS science to their businesses. On the IBHS research campus, Members held trainings, executive leadership visits, Board of Director meetings and client events.
Across the country, Members help expand our roof research; four companies currently host IBHS roof aging farms with planned expansion to at least one new location next year.
Diving deeper into the commercial space
To better serve commercial policyholders, IBHS released three new Member-exclusive commercial occupancy loss control resources:
- Safeguarding Office Buildings from Water Intrusion During Severe Thunderstorms provides inspection and risk reduction recommendations to reduce vulnerability and prevent common, expensive damage caused by severe thunderstorms.
- Educational Buildings and Campuses—Reducing Damage from Wind, Wind-driven Rain and Hail provides inspection and risk reduction recommendations to prevent common and costly damage caused by severe storms.
- Strip malls: Proactive Steps for Wildfire Mitigation guide offers insights on identifying responsible parties for preparedness, components of the structure that are vulnerable and what resilience measures to take to help protect strip malls against the threats of wildfire.
In addition, IBHS develops new commercial resources each year. New Thunderstorm Ready–Business resources outlined science-backed mitigation actions business owners can use to reduce the risk of damage from severe storms.
Based on Member input, IBHS started providing Members commercial e-learning resources that can be incorporated into individual company learning management systems. More than a half dozen Members have done so, making it easy to integrate with other training opportunities or requirements and track progress.
Disaster Dynamics Academies bring science to life
IBHS’s flagship Disaster Dynamics Academy (DDA) series provides Members exclusive opportunities to learn directly from IBHS researchers and building science experts. This year, IBHS led four DDAs:
- Intersections of Resilience and Sustainability: Examining our Built Environment in a Changing Climate – Attendees gained insight into the influence of natural hazards on property damage and looked at sustainable and resilient construction practices and materials.
- The Science Behind FORTIFIED – Members gained a deeper understanding of the science behind FORTIFIED requirements and how the program reduces damage against wind, rain and hail.
- Wildfire Conflagration – Attendees learned the latest IBHS research on wildfire conflagration and got a front seat to a live wildfire burn demonstration.
- Roofing Roadmaps: Setting Expectations in Roof Cover Performance – Attendees explored the relative performance of residential roof covers and their ability to withstand the impact of wind, rain and hail.
Hurricane Ready Member resources
- Ahead of hurricane season, IBHS helped Members prepare with new Hurricane Ready resources, offering easy-to-follow preparation and assessment guides to help policyholders reduce their risk.
- IBHS worked with researchers from Auburn University and the University of Illinois to provide a wind performance of roof cover materials dataset with Members ahead of the season’s peak. The data includes material performance research findings from Hurricanes Ian, Michael, Harvey, Sally, Ida and Irma, and the 2020 Midwest derecho to create a roof-focused damage assessment of single-family homes using post-storm aerial and street-level imagery.
- IBHS continues to highlight a home’s largest opening, the garage door, as one of its most vulnerable areas. This year, researchers developed new IBHS garage door resources to break down the science behind why garage doors fail, why they are considered damage amplifiers and tips to reduce the risk of garage door failure.


OUTREACH


OUTREACH
Alongside our unique research, IBHS prioritizes its role as an influencer, ensuring our resources and information are widely available to promote resilience for all. By translating our science from the lab and field studies into actionable mitigation strategies, IBHS solidifies our commitment to equipping home and business owners so they can increase their properties’ resilience against severe weather and wildfire.
This year, we reached over 250 million Americans – 95 million more than in 2023 – through our relationships with local and national media, social media engagement and product development. Across perils, our outreach built the reputation of IBHS and trust in our science while growing awareness of our two designation programs so more people can benefit. Working with top-tier national outlets, key trade media, and in local markets in coastal and wild-fire prone areas, IBHS guidance was prevalent with the right message at the right time.
Sharing IBHS research with a national audience
For the third consecutive year, IBHS research was spotlighted on Good Morning America (GMA) to a national audience, bringing homeowners into the peril at the peak of the hurricane season. In the demonstration, a full-scale house was subjected to rain and winds up to 125 mph showing the value of FORTIFIED as well as the importance of strengthening vulnerable areas of the home to prevent damage from wind and wind-driven rain.
Before Hurricane Milton’s landfall in October, GMA rebroadcast footage from the earlier segment and highlighted IBHS Hurricane Ready guidance related to last-minute hurricane preparations.

IBHS as a national thought leader
- As a recognized resiliency thought leader, Roy Wright was tapped by NPR’s flagship program 1A to help explain the increased risk and complicated scenarios that derive from compounding disasters and by the Today Show to help property owners across the U.S. understand the need for proper flood insurance.
- Our extensive work in Lahaina and subsequent report was shared in multiple stories by both the Associated Press and NPR while images and reporting of our wildfire demos were splashed across the front of The New York Times’ Business section.
- The IBHS Disaster Discussions Podcast celebrated its second anniversary and offered ten episodes featuring internal and external experts discussing research across all perils and both designation programs.
Strategic partnerships
In 2024, IBHS leadership focused on strengthening the organization’s external partnerships, broadening overall reach and tapping into new markets including direct engagement with 15 state insurance commissioners.
IBHS signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) to solidify its outreach:
- IBHS and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) formalized a long-standing relationship in October and pledged to accelerate joint efforts to end the destruction of homes and communities by wildfire. The organizations agreed to continue educating stakeholders on the latest wildfire guidance and amplify a consistent message on wildfire mitigation.
- IBHS and the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) signed a MOU in November to formalize ongoing collaborative efforts, combining each organization’s strengths to enhance building resilience, promote effective building codes and standards and increase consumer awareness of disaster preparedness and mitigation strategies.

In addition to developing new strategic partnerships, IBHS continued to expand its existing partnerships with other organizations throughout 2024. IBHS, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I) partnered on a Weathering the Storms: Strategies for Small Business Resilience LinkedIn Audio Event, where IBHS Managing Director of FORTIFIED Fred Malik, SBA Associate Administrator Francisco Sánchez Jr. and Triple-I Vice President of Media Relations Loretta Worters provided tips to help business owners prepare for severe weather.
LOOKING AHEAD
Member investment in IBHS provides real-world scientific solutions to reduce avoidable damage caused by Mother Nature. As the center of scientific gravity, IBHS is closing gaps in hail, wind, wind-driven rain and wildfire science, narrowing the path of destruction and serving as the foundation for meaningful and impactful public policy, communications and guidance to increase national resiliency. As we turn the corner into the second year of Strategy26, Roofing Roadmaps will provide an easily accessible information hub where IBHS will share the relative performance of asphalt shingles, metal and tile, enabling key stakeholders to make data-driven decisions based on our latest research. We’ll continue our groundbreaking wildfire testing in 2025, completing our most ambitious series of experiments yet. Our annual hail field study will be expanded into the first multi-organization large field effort in over 40 years. And in key markets across the country, we will demonstrate to local audiences how IBHS science-backed solutions can change outcomes. As we empower property owners, community leaders and policymakers, IBHS continues advancing its mission to provide critical, timely research and information to prevent avoidable suffering, strengthen our homes and businesses, inform the insurance industry and support thriving communities.