Researchers in Washington D.C. compile data on how shingles hold up when shot with high-velocity steel balls, engineers in Georgia build roof straps from the material used in bulletproof vests and professors in Lubbock, Texas, document why homes appear to explode during tornadoes -- all in the hopes of building super-strong homes able to withstand the fickle fits of Mother Nature.

The super home's kryptonite has been the high cost of stronger rooftops, reinforced walls and strapped-down trusses. Those images of airborne timbers and flooded living rooms on the Weather Channel lose their edge when the contractor tallies his estimate for the home built to protect against those tragedies.

But insurance companies, looking for ways to grow profits, are working on an antidote to offset costs that kill super homes: lower insurance premiums for what are being called "fortified" homes.

Today, about 100 such homes are built or are being built in the United States, according to Chuck Vance, fortified program manager at the Institute for Business & Home Safety in Tampa, Fla. The non-profit organization is supported by more than 200 insurance companies interested in whether those stronger homes warrant lower insurance premiums.

Bob Gillson, president of Fort Smith-based Gillson Contruction Inc., said a home with concrete walls will be in the October Parade of Homes sponsored by the Greater Fort Smith Home Builders Association.

"You get a structure that will withstand all but the most severe of tornadoes," said Gillson, who is the president of the Fort Smith association this year.

American National Property and Casualty Company confirmed it would offer premium discounts to homeowners in Louisiana who build fortified homes, according to Debi Harper, a Springfield, Mo.-based spokeswoman for the company. The company, known as ANPAC in Louisiana, is betting stronger homes are worth a 25 percent discount on the hurricane portion of a homeowner policy premium. That will amount to a 12.5 percent savings on the total policy cost in many cases in Louisiana, Harper estimates.

"We think this is an important step forward," Harper said. "Our approach is how to continue to provide coverage but do it in a responsible way."

Fortified homes exist in Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, North Carolina, Missouri and Illinois. Inspections during construction are key. But how the program will eventually be handled as more homes are built in more states is unclear. Vance said the ideal situation might involve architects and or contractors, both of which are subject to licensing, to oversee inspections. Video or digital photographs will likely be used to document construction methods.

The problem is quantifying how fortified homes stack up -- or fall down -- when compared to conventionally built homes. He likens the fortified home program to crash testing of cars in the auto industry.

"What we can't do is go out and crash test a lot of houses," Vance said. "What we can do is look at what works and doesn't work and quantify."

Vance, 65, can only guess at when the fortified home program's storm data might intersect with profit-margin numbers to produce industry-wide changes in premium costs: "In my lifetime, I guess," he said. "In some areas, that timeline is moving forward pretty fast."

Researchers at the Wind Science and Engineering Research Center at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, have dedicated years of research to document the effects of wind. That information is shared with architects, engineers and builders. A tornado-proof home is impractical, according to the Research Center's Web site. Such a home must be "missile-resistant" and capable of withstanding 250 mile-per-hour winds.

Between 1991 and 1995, wind and hail resulted in an average of $8 billion in insurance payouts per year, according to the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH), a group that attempts to improve the flow of information concerning the development and use of new building products. Wind and hail damage to roofs made up a large part of that damage. Asphalt shingles that offer improved protection against wind and hail are now offered by many companies, at about a 50-percent higher price than conventional shingles, according to PATH. Such shingles can pay dividends in more than one way. If installed properly, they stay put better and longer, which means that roof decking or the home's interior is not subjected to water damage.

Storms, and the threat of more storms, spur people to invest in better-built homes, said Carlos Martin, a researcher at PATH offices in Washington D.C.

"I think you are going to see a lot more of that (investment in housing)," Martin said. "It takes a crisis for people to realize the physical performance of their house matters to them."

Richard Gilstrap, owner of Gilstrap Custom Homes, said he does some limited metal strapping on home he builds in the Fort Smith area. The straps help tie rafters (the roof) to walls.

It is pulled and pushed by builders, temperamental home buyers and the economy. Innovations and ideas for better homes come from businesses, public demand, crisis -- such as last year's hurricanes -- or retired engineers like 77-year-old Don McCarthy.

McCarthy used what is known as Insulated Concrete Forms technology to build a home in Tulsa for the non-profit group Neighbor to Neighbor. The 1,200-square-foot home cost about $60,000 to build but McCarthy built it for energy efficiency and strength. The total monthly utility bill is $20, and the home is a fortress against tornadoes. The walls consist of locked-together blocks filled with concrete and wrapped with three inches of dense insulation on each side of the block.

"The wall is reinforced and it is tied to the foundation and the foundation is tied to the slab so you have everything tied together," McCarthy said. "Right now, I am trying to build a whole group of these. I think that is the next step."

The house gained McCarthy national attention for its energy efficiency, strength and durability. But he admits it has gained little attention in Tulsa, even though the technology could be applied to larger homes.

That marketplace vetting both helps and hinders the flow of new technology into homes. Builders won't sink money into new products or building methods, no matter how great their performance, unless consumers are willing to pay for them. Good products will eventually find their niche, which, in Martin's opinion, is often better for overall construction health than building codes that force inefficient policy or products on the market.

"If I make a decision to build a spec house, do I want to make a decision to add an extra $4,000 to $5,000 with a safe room if I'm not going to get my money back?" he said.

Chances are, not many builders have heard of Mason Bond, a glue produced by ITW TACC/Mason Bond of Lapeer, Mich. Tim Walsh, business manager for the firm, said tests show the product is five times stronger than masonry cement. Jim Caldwell, professor of John Brown University's construction management classes, used it when his students built their project home in a Siloam Springs subdivision.

"People are used to seeing mortar lines," Walsh said. "It is difficult because people say, 'That's great that it is stronger but what does that get me?' and the way codes are written it doesn't get them a whole lot."

Same with compressed wood products that entered the market in recent years. Caldwell said lumber costs are now dictating the building industry to use such products.

Mike Moran is vice president of builder programs at Simpson Strong Tie, a nationwide company that specializes in connecting products that contribute to a home's overall strength. He believes the key to a real overhaul of home building lies within the minds of insurance executives -- and inside the calculators of insurance accounting drones.

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