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LaHouse

Newsletter

Director's Updates

Hello and welcome to the LaHouse quarterly newsletter!

Since I started as director in March, we have been working on several new projects and initiatives here at LaHouse. This newsletter is an opportunity to share updates on our work, what we've accomplished, and what's to come at LaHouse.

In the last quarter, we have published exciting new research on flood and wind resilience. Through this research, we found that adding two feet of freeboard when building a home is the most economical approach, resulting in both flood risk and insurance premium reduction. For wind hazards, we found that residential wind losses can be reduced by up to 80% by using practices found in the IBHS FORTIFIED Gold standard. By using practices found in IBHS FORTIFIED Roof and Silver standards, we found wind loss reductions of up to 38% and 73% respectively. You can read more about this research below and on the LaHouse website. For Louisianans, it’s exciting to know that the FORTIFIED certifications not only protect against wind damage but also reduce your wind insurance premiums (see LA R.S. 22:1483).

I’m excited to announce funding received from Louisiana Sea Grant to study the “economic, social, and policy pathways to freeboard adoption for existing homes.” This project is led by Dr. Monica Farris at the University of New Orleans and includes UNO collaborator Dr. Pam Jenkins and LSU collaborators Dr. Yongcheol Lee and Dr. Robert Rohli.

This project continues our work to expand our pilot FloodSafeHome webtool to help residents understand how freeboard not only protects against flood hazards but can also save money through reduced flood insurance premiums.

We're also working with many different departments across campus to expand our research and training offerings and to identify areas for growth through collaboration. If your department would like to explore opportunities for collaboration, please contact us!

Dr. Carol Friedland

New Papers

Below are some examples of the exciting new resilience research being conducted at LaHouse. Click the titles to read more!

Economically optimizing elevation of new, single-family residences for flood mitigation via life-cycle benefit-cost analysis

Determining the optimal freeboard, defined as extra elevation above the 100-year flood or “base flood” elevation for a home can be very difficult. The goal of this research was to understand the cost effectiveness of freeboard as a flood mitigation strategy considering construction cost, flood risk, and insurance premiums.

Generalized cost-effectiveness of wind mitigation strategies for single family house

Wind is one of the deadliest and most expensive hazards in the United States, resulting in significant damage to buildings and economic losses to homeowners. This research explores the most cost effective wind mitigation strategies for single-family homes.

Improved building-specific flood risk assessment and implications of depth-damage function selection

Average annual losses from flooding are currently $104 billion worldwide and are expected to increase. This research presents a refined implementation to calculate annual flood risk, which is a cornerstone of our economic assessments for flood hazards and mitigation strategies.

Quarterly Review

Here are some exciting new initiatives and projects the LaHouse team has been working on:

LaHouse staff members met with the public in Houma and Lake Charles for the Louisiana Housing Expo to showcase resilient and sustainable techniques featured in LaHouse.
LaHouse hosted floodplain managers from the Capitol region for their August monthly meeting to share the LaHouse vision and resources.
A contingent from the Insurance Institute of Business and Home Safety and Smart Home America visited LaHouse to develop partnerships and discuss collaboration.
Dr. Friedland served on the statewide Freeboard Task Force to provide recommendations to the Louisiana State Uniform Construction Code Council to aid their decision about statewide freeboard standards for building elevation.
Dr. Friedland presented on her research and information about LaHouse at the Louisiana Floodplain Management Association summer workshop in Ruston, LA; the National Hazards Workshop Researchers and Practitioners Meetings in Boulder, CO; and the Louisiana Housing Summit and Expo in Lake Charles, LA.
Dr. Friedland gave a presentation on research and the benefits of FORTIFIED and freeboard to the Council of State Community Development Agencies.

Student Spotlight

Congratulations to new LaHouse postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Rubayet Bin Mostafiz, for graduating with his PhD in Oceanography and Coastal Sciences in August!

Rubayet's research expertise includes spatial analysis, hazard risk assessment, climate hazard variability, and risk estimation for extreme weather events.

In 2020, he was named a Louisiana Sea Grant Graduate Research Scholar. He earned the Outstanding Performance Recognition Award from the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness in 2019 for contributing to the 2019 Louisiana State Hazard Mitigation Plan Update.

Welcome aboard Dr. Mostafiz!

Looking Forward

Our new Extension Associate, Dr. Emery Desonier, will be launching a resilience outreach campaign in the Lake Charles area.

In October, the mobile LaHouse exhibit and staff are traveling to the Andouille Festival in LaPlace and to the Rougarou Fest in Houma. In addition to touring the mobile exhibit, be prepared with your questions and peruse our outreach publications. Please stop by to visit us!

The LaHouse staff is developing a digital version of LaHouse with detailed information on all of our exhibits in an exciting new web experience!

Let's stay in touch!

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