Developing BEM Applications for the Reinsurance Industry

Inefficient use of energy wastes capital that could be more productively invested in other segments of the U.S. economy. At the same time, the reinsurance industry is eager to reduce property losses arising from increasingly severe weather. But existing reinsurance loss models do not take into consideration the resiliency benefits of energy efficiency measures. The objective of the Phase I SBIR research is to assess the feasibility of developing applications for building energy models to be used by the reinsurance industry. Prisere LLC, with the support of the architecture faculty of the Rhode Island School of Design, will assess the computational tools of building energy and reinsurance underwriting models. The research team will perform basic data analysis with multiple hazard simulation for weather-related hazards in each of the 8 U.S. climatic zones (with three sub-zones in each) for 24 simulation sets to determine the feasibility of developing applications and services for building energy models to inform reinsurance underwriting and capital investment in energy efficiency. Finally, Prisere LLC will conduct cost-benefit analysis and return on investment analysis for property hazard scenarios in each of the 24 U.S. climactic sub-zones.