FORECAST 2014 / STORM & SECURITY PROTECTION 9
Read to Speak at June Meeting
Bill Read, former director of the National Hurricane
Center (NHC), will be the guest speaker at the June
meeting of the International Hurricane Protection
Association, to be held at the Houston Marriott South,
Houston, TX.
The meeting will feature morning and afternoon
sessions, tabletop displays and a networking reception
immediately following.
At the association's March meeting in Fort Lauderdale,
FL, the IHPA presented its industry service award to Rick
Knabb, director of the NHC. Knabb spoke on upcoming
changes to NHC products and warnings for the 2014
hurricane season. He also discussed hurricane tracks and
predictions in his presentation.
Also at that meeting, Erik Salna from Florida
International University spoke on FIU's Wall of Wind. The
12-fan Wall of Wind is the largest and most powerful
university research facility of its kind and is capable of
simulating a Category 5 hurricane. The apparatus creates
realistic hurricane characteristics including turbulence,
gusting winds, wind-driven rain and atmospheric boundary
layer conditions. The Wall of Wind is open to working with
private industry clients and researchers for testing new
ideas and products.
Search Product Approvals Online
A new online resource for local and Florida statewide
product approvals was presented at the IHPA March
meeting. Association vice president, Frank Bennardo,
ApprovalZOOM, and Tom Berman, a former Florida and
Miami NOA approval administrator, presented the Florida
Local Product Approval System.
The site offers a registry of building products and
performance data. The site is designed for use by the
general public, contractors and developers, insurance
agencies, researchers, building officials, manufacturers,
distributors, architects and engineers.
Florida Local Product Approval features an archive of
building product information; it allows homeowners to
collect information for insurance discounts and compare
products for structural, water, sunlight, sound and energy
efficiency performance; lets manufacturers add product
approvals and upgrade existing approvals; and allows
developers to search through multiple agencies and
approvals using filter options.
Outreach Program Considered
The IHPA is considering becoming involved in a new
statewide program: Be Ready Florida.
Be Ready Florida is a collaborative effort between the
state's Division of Emergency Management, Volunteer
Florida and Be Ready Alliance Coordinating for Emergencies
(BRACE). It is aiming to engage Florida homeowners to take
the time to prepare their homes for the next disaster by
participating in a series of informative workshops.
The BRACE for the Storm workshop can be delivered
via the Internet to homeowners to teach them how to
prepare their homes for the next wind disaster. Participants
also learn how to save money on the windstorm portion of
the homeowner's insurance premium. The Make Mitigation
Happen workshop can be delivered at a community
location. During each workshop participants meet with
experts who will provide information on undertaking
windstorm mitigation projects to strengthen their homes
against the next storm.
IHPA President Frank Browning, left, and board member
Scott Kuntz, far right, present NHC Director Knabb with
the IHPA service award.
IHPA Intell
