Developing pre-disaster resilience based on public and private incentivization

This white paper provides a catalogue of existing programs for new and existing construction, and for different hazards that can be evaluated, and then modified or expanded to support development of incentives to achieve resilience in U.S. communities. The paper does not purport to be a thorough study, but it does offer a large inventory of realistic incentives as conceived by scholars and professionals familiar with the practices and interests of the offerers and decision makers.

The authors hope to quantify how much each of the many incentives could offset the cost of a resilience measure, while still providing a reasonable benefit to the offerer, at least for some resilience measures. They note notes that incentives should be developed with the following characteristics: i) use of optimal resilience measures, ii) flexibility, iii) coordination, and iv) facilitation.

The paper concludes that the most cost-effective manner to achieve resilience is through a holistic and integrated set of public, private and hybrid programs based on capturing opportunities available through mortgages and loans; insurance; finance; tax incentives and credits; grants; regulations; and enhanced building codes and their application.