Wanna Save Money? Climate-Proof Your Home

Summary

Podcast Summary: Short Wave - "Wanna Save Money? Climate-Proof Your Home"

Released on June 11, 2025

Introduction to Climate-Proofing Homes

In the June 11, 2025 episode of NPR's Short Wave, hosts Emily Kwong and Regina Barber delve into innovative climate solutions aimed at helping homeowners save money while safeguarding their homes against increasingly severe weather events. This episode, titled "Wanna Save Money? Climate-Proof Your Home," explores how climate-proofing initiatives not only protect residences but also offer financial incentives through insurance discounts.

Fortified Roofs in Alabama: A Case Study

The discussion begins with Regina Barber introducing Lauren Sommer from NPR's Climate Desk and Steven Besaha from the Gulf States newsroom. They highlight a seemingly ordinary roof in Alabama that exemplifies advanced climate-proofing. Steven Besaha shares his encounter with Ron Watson, a homeowner enthusiastic about replacing his old, leaky roof with a fortified version.

“I've been up there with a bucket of tar covering large patches where leaks had popped up.”
— Lauren Sommer [00:57]

How Fortified Roofs Work

Fortified roofs are engineered to withstand the intense conditions of climate-induced storms, particularly hurricanes. Steven Besaha explains that these roofs incorporate a “waterproof sticker layer” and specialized nails with ridges that enhance wind resistance.

“If your roof starts going, even just a couple shingles, it's just kind of a ripple effect from there.”
— Kendall Duke, Contractor with Fortified Exteriors [03:09]

These features significantly reduce the likelihood of roof damage during high winds, preventing water from entering the home and minimizing structural harm.

Financial Incentives: Grants and Insurance Discounts

Alabama has pioneered a program offering substantial financial incentives to homeowners who install fortified roofs. Steven Besaha mentions that homeowners like Ron Watson benefit from both state grants and insurance discounts.

“A big one for homeowners are these grants that they could get from the state. They cover up to $10,000 for the cost of a fortified roof.”
— Steven Besaha [05:13]

Additionally, homeowners receive discounts ranging from 20% to 35% on the wind portion of their insurance premiums, which can translate to significant savings annually.

Expansion to Other States

Following Alabama's lead, states such as Louisiana and Mississippi have adopted similar insurance discount programs tailored to their specific climate threats. These programs aim to encourage widespread adoption of resilient home modifications to enhance community safety.

California’s Approach to Wildfire-Proofing Homes

The conversation shifts to California, where wildfire risks necessitate different climate-proofing strategies. Lauren Sommer discusses how homeowners there are incentivized to mitigate wildfire damage through various home improvements, such as using fire-resistant materials and creating defensible space around their properties.

Elizabeth Stage, a homeowner in Oakland, exemplifies these efforts. After experiencing the devastating Oakland Hills fire of 1991, she undertook numerous upgrades to her home to enhance its wildfire resistance.

“The deck used to be made out of redwood. It was really pretty high maintenance, but pretty.”
— Kendall Duke [07:21]

Despite these proactive measures, California's insurance discount programs offer lower incentives—up to 15%—compared to Alabama's more substantial discounts. Moreover, the requirement for homeowners to pay for inspections diminishes the overall attractiveness of these programs.

Challenges and Broader Insurance Issues

Michael Wara from Stanford University and former California insurance commissioner Dave Jones highlight significant challenges in the current insurance landscape. They point out that while discounts are beneficial, they do not address the core issue of insurance companies opting not to renew or offer coverage to high-risk homeowners.

“Getting a discount is nice, but the discount doesn't matter a darn if the insurer won't renew or write your insurance.”
— Michael Wara [10:12]

The lack of regulatory power to compel insurers to consider climate-proofing measures in their risk assessments exacerbates the problem. State lawmakers have struggled to enact changes that would align insurance practices with climate resilience goals.

Conclusion: The Path Forward

The episode concludes by emphasizing the importance of comprehensive climate-proofing strategies that not only involve individual homeowner initiatives but also require coordinated community efforts. Effective climate resilience hinges on both personal investments in home upgrades and systemic changes in insurance policies to support and incentivize such measures.

“There needs to be even greater focus on getting the insurers models that they use to decide whether to write and renew the insurance.”
— Michael Wara [10:34]

Regina Barber summarizes the overarching theme by acknowledging the complexity of climate resilience and the necessity for integrated solutions that blend financial incentives, regulatory reforms, and community collaboration.

Final Thoughts

"Wanna Save Money? Climate-Proof Your Home" provides a comprehensive exploration of how homeowners can mitigate the financial and physical risks posed by climate change. By showcasing real-life examples from Alabama and California, the episode underscores the potential benefits and challenges of climate-proofing initiatives, offering valuable insights for listeners seeking to protect their homes and wallets in an era of escalating environmental threats.

Transcript

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[Host]

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.

[Regina Barber]

This week at NPR, we're covering climate solutions. And today we're starting with a solution that at first glance, seems pretty basic. It's a roof, a roof that doesn't really look any different from any other one you'd see on a standard house. And here today to explain why it's special is Lauren Sommer from NPR's Climate Desk and Steven Besaha from the Gulf States newsroom. Hey.

[Lauren Sommer]

Hi.

[Host]

Hey.

[Steven Besaha]

Good to be with you.

[Regina Barber]

Okay, so, Stephen, tell me, like, what can this roof do?

[Steven Besaha]

So the example roof we're gonna use is just a short drive from the Gulf coast in Alabama. I met the owner of the house, Ron Watson, and. And he was pretty psyched about replacing his old roof.

[Lauren Sommer]

Yeah, I've been up there with a bucket of tar covering large patches where leaks had popped up.

[Host]

Beyond just being more functional, this roof is also saving Ron money. It reduces the cost of his insurance premium. And premiums are going up around the country.

[Lauren Sommer]

That's a big incentive. I mean, homeowners insurance now has been through the roof because of the storms we've had through here.

[Regina Barber]

Yeah, I've heard homeowners insurance is getting, like, more expensive. It's also harder to get across the country. So how will this roof save him on his insurance?

[Host]

So, you know, the Gulf gets a lot of hurricanes. We're heading into hurricane season right now. Those hurricanes are getting more intense as the climate gets hotter.

[Regina Barber]

Yeah.

[Host]

And in those powerful winds, you know, roofs get torn right off of houses.

[Steven Besaha]

So Watson recently got a new strengthened roof specifically designed with those homewrecking storms in mind.

[Lauren Sommer]

Watching them do it, I realized, man, all the ones I had done before wasn't near as good as this one is.

[Steven Besaha]

And since it's less likely to be damaged, his insurance company gives him a discount.

[Regina Barber]

Got it. So it's like a less risky roof. And that means the insurance company doesn't have to, like, charge as much for his insurance.

[Host]

Yeah, exactly. This is a program that Alabama pioneered. And it's starting to see because there are millions of homes that are at risk from wildfires and storms. And states want to incentivize people to make their communities safer, but in some.

[Steven Besaha]

States, it's not going quite as well. And there are even bigger problems with insurance that these programs don't address.

[Regina Barber]

So today on the show, the insurance problem. How climate change is driving a crisis in home insurance and how states are experimenting to find better solutions. I'm Regina Barber and you're listening to Short Wave, the science podcast from npr. So, Lauren, Steven, you've reported on how states are trying to deal with like two problems, home insurance and natural disasters. And these aren't just like casual rainstorms. Yeah. Like with climate change, storms are getting more extreme.

[Host]

Yeah, exactly. And the problem with these storms is they're basically a one, two punch for a house.

[Steven Besaha]

Yeah, I talked to Kendall Duke about that. She's a contractor with Fortified Exteriors, which installed Ron's roof. And I learned that that first punch comes from high winds.

[Kendall Duke]

If your roof starts going, even just a couple shingles, it's just kind of a ripple effect from there.

[Host]

You can hear all that rain, right?

[Regina Barber]

Yeah. Wow.

[Host]

Yeah, that's punch number two. You know, once that roof gets damaged, the rain can get inside, you know, and that starts to rot things from the drywall to the family photos.

[Regina Barber]

So what makes these roofs, like, so much better at dealing with this one two punch than a regular one sitting on top of most American houses right now?

[Steven Besaha]

Yeah, well, the idea was to counter that one two punch, Alabama adopted this like one two defense. It is called a fortified roof. Basically, it's this construction benchmark for making roofs storm ready.

[Host]

Yeah. So first there's this waterproof stick on layer.

[Kendall Duke]

If for some reason a shingle does blow off, you're still not going to get water into your house because the roof underneath is fully sealed on the decking.

[Steven Besaha]

So it's a really expensive waterproof sticker at the end of the day.

[Kendall Duke]

Pretty much, yeah.

[Host]

And then there are these special nails with these ridges running down the side, and it makes them much more resistant to wind. And that's what Fortified exteriors is installing on a home in Mobile.

[Regina Barber]

Yeah, I love a little home improvement, especially if I'm not doing it myself.

[Steven Besaha]

Yeah, right.

[Regina Barber]

Is there any evidence these extra protections actually work, though?

[Steven Besaha]

Yeah. Alabama's insurance department, they just released a study that looked into Hurricane Sally. And Sally made landfall along the Alabama coast as a level 2 hurricane in 2020.

[Host]

And so compared to, you know, those standard roofs, the ones that were fortified did a lot better. Homeowners with those special roofs filed fewer claims, and the claims they did file were for less damage. The exception to this was damage from fallen trees.

[Regina Barber]

I mean, installing a new roof is already pretty expensive. Like, even before adding the waterproof layer, these special nails, like how Does Alabama get people to actually switch to this, like, fortified version?

[Steven Besaha]

Well, a big one for homeowners are these grants that they could get from the state. They cover up to $10,000 for the cost of a fortified roof. These grants get handed out every three months. And I've heard lots of stories from homeowners, like, sitting at their computer, hitting refresh until the application opens, like, you know, kind of like a Taylor Swift ticket drop.

[Host]

Wow.

[Steven Besaha]

I mean, $10,000, you're going to wait.

[Host]

And, you know, the other big incentive is that discount we talked about on your insurance. So in Alabama, if you have a fortified roof, you get a discount of 20 to 35% off the wind portion of your premium, which for many people is kind of the bulk of your insurance premium. And that can be hundreds of dollars a year.

[Regina Barber]

Wow.

[Steven Besaha]

And Alabama pioneered this program after state lawmakers, they passed this law to create it in 2012. It did take a few years to roll out all those perks and, you know, work out the kinks. But today, state officials say more than 50,000 roofs in the state are now fortified.

[Regina Barber]

Wow.

[Steven Besaha]

Yeah. In other states, they are copying it. Louisiana and Mississippi have started their own insurance discount programs, and it spread to states with different kinds of disasters, too.

[Regina Barber]

And, Lauren, you've reported, like, from one of those other states, right?

[Host]

Yeah, Yeah. I talked to homeowners in California, where the discount program is really only a couple years old. And there, of course, wildfires are on people's minds, especially one homeowner I met in Oakland. Her name's Elizabeth Stage. And she doesn't have to wonder what a wildfire might do to her neighborhood because she's seen it firsthand.

[Kendall Duke]

The 91 fire got within two houses of mine. House next door was unscathed, and the one past that was completely charred on one side.

[Steven Besaha]

She's talking about the Oakland Hills fire. And that fire burned more than 3,000 houses in 1991. Wow.

[Regina Barber]

Okay. But her house was okay. But how did that change how she felt about living there?

[Michael Wara]

Yeah.

[Steven Besaha]

So Elizabeth volunteers her time in local groups that work on wildfire safety, but it was really only a few years ago when she started thinking about her own home because she had maintenance projects that needed doing. And with each of them, there were ways she could make better choices for wildfire risk.

[Kendall Duke]

The deck used to be made out of redwood. It was really pretty high maintenance, but pretty.

[Host]

So that wood deck is now made of Trex. It's a composite material that's less likely to ignite. If you look here, the siding isn't wood anymore. The roof is fire resistant.

[Kendall Duke]

The windows have been replaced. It's some kind of tempered glass.

[Host]

Tempered glass is actually less likely to shatter in heat from a wildfire, which is what lets the flames right into your house. And then the vegetation is cut away within five feet of the house because that can spread fire as well. All of this helps because in a wildfire, houses are hit with this kind of, like, shape shower of embers, and that's blown far ahead of the fire itself, and that's how many homes ignite.

[Regina Barber]

That's a lot of projects like, so what does California offer in terms of insurance discounts to, like, offset that cost?

[Host]

Yeah, so the discounts in California are lower than in Alabama. Elizabeth's insurance company could only knock off up to 15%, and that's at the upper end of what's offered in California. Some Companies only offer 8%, and homeowners still have to pay for the inspection. California's insurance regulators say those discounts could go up as the program develops. But, you know, I talked to other homeowners who said right now it's just not enough to motivate them to do some of these expensive home projects.

[Regina Barber]

Okay, so would it make sense for California to just, like, copy Alabama to do, like, higher discounts than they offer?

[Steven Besaha]

Well, there are some key differences between the states and different kinds. Disasters of. Michael Wara studies climate risk at Stanford University, and he says, you know, it's just simpler to change out a roof. The benefits of a super roof are.

[Michael Wara]

Fully captured by the person that makes the investment. One of the challenges with fire hardening.

[Steven Besaha]

Is that it matters what your neighbors do, too. Even if a homeowner does, you know, everything, right. Their house can still be at risk if their neighbors don't.

[Regina Barber]

Yeah.

[Steven Besaha]

If they have a lot of flammable vegetation and their house catches fire, it could spread from house to house because it's so hot.

[Host]

Wow.

[Regina Barber]

Yeah. It sounds like there's a lot that depends on your neighbors, like, and what they do. It's not all within your control.

[Host]

Yeah, exactly. So for wildfire risk, insurance companies may not see a reason to give a big discount unless entire neighborhoods work together to be safer. But, you know, for homeowners like Elizabeth, the biggest motivation actually isn't a discount.

[Kendall Duke]

It would be frosting on the cake. Before I worry about my premiums, I need to worry about my non renewal notice.

[Regina Barber]

Non renewal notice? What's that?

[Steven Besaha]

Well, basically, we're talking about homeowners in California being dropped by their insurance companies. Nationwide, almost 2 million people lost home insurance from 2018 to 2023, according to a report from the Senate Budget Committee. And you know, it can be hard to find affordable insurance once you lose it.

[Regina Barber]

Wow. So if homeowners prepare for hurricanes and wildfires, does that mean it might help them keep their insurance?

[Host]

No, not necessarily. I mean, it could, but insurance companies actually aren't required to consider those things when they're deciding who to insure.

[Regina Barber]

Oh, geez.

[Host]

I talked to one of California's former insurance commissioners, Dave Jones, and he says that's a problem.

[Michael Wara]

Getting a discount is nice, but the discount doesn't matter a darn if the insurer won't renew or write your insurance. So I think that, you know, a focus on the discount is important. Important. There needs to be even greater focus on getting the insurers models that they use to decide whether to write and renew the insurance. That's the bigger problem.

[Steven Besaha]

He's talking about the complex computer models that insurance companies use to figure out how risky a home is and whether to insure it. Right now, state regulators do not have the power to make insurers consider those disaster preparations when deciding who to insure. It would take state lawmakers to do that.

[Host]

California lawmakers did introduce a bill to do that in 2020, but it didn't go anywhere. And it means that these discount programs don't really tap into one of the biggest motivations, which is simply keeping your insurance. And Dave says that's a missed opportunity because there are so many homes at risk from disasters and insurance should be sending the right signals about what to do.

[Regina Barber]

Totally. I can see how this could affect so many people and I didn't know any of this before. Lauren, Steven, thank you so much for bringing us this story.

[Steven Besaha]

Yeah, thanks for having us.

[Host]

Yeah, thanks.

[Regina Barber]

Before we head out, a reminder that this story is part of a whole week of stories NPR is reporting out about climate change solutions for living and building on a hotter planet. Check out the link to the series in our show Notes. Also, if you liked this episode, follow us on the NPR app or wherever else you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Hannah Chin and edited by our showrunner, Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. Kwesi Lee was the audio engineer. I'm Regina Barber. Thank you for listening to Short Wave from npr.

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