Building Better: What Determines Who Adopts Fire-Resistant Housing Materials in California?

32 Pages Posted: 27 Oct 2022

See all articles by Jennifer L Richmond

Jennifer L Richmond

University of Maryland - College Park

Stefan Hochrainer

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

John Handmer

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Anand Patwardhan

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Yueming Qiu

School of Public Policy, University of Maryland at College Park

Pengfei Liu

University of Rhode Island - Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics

Abstract

Wildfires ravage communities, forests, and government budgets each year in the US. The risk of wildfires continues to evolve as climate change enables conditions that are hotter, drier, and conducive to more frequent and intense fires. It remains unclear to what extent public policy is nimble enough to respond effectively at the local, state, and federal levels. A patchy web of disaster resilience policies and building codes meant to “harden” structures, as a defense against wildfires, exist in some places to attempt to protect public safety, property, and forests. However, it is uncertain whether codes are enforced, if codes are enforced differently by local jurisdictions or states, and whether codes have an effect outside of enforcement areas. Here we derive empirical evidence from multivariate binomial regression analysis to predict whether homeowners’ adopt fire-resistant building materials following major policy changes and whether key spatial and socioeconomic characteristics help or hinder adoption as well. We find that homes built after California’s comprehensive building code change in 2008 and homes located in Firewise communities or wildland urban intermix (WUI) areas all exhibit strong, positive effect sizes for adopting higher levels of fire-resistant home building materials. Findings from this study may help to identify where public policy is making strides in wildfire resilience and where improvement and investment are needed.

Keywords: wildfire, wildfire adaptation, disaster resilience, wildland urban interface, building codes

Suggested Citation

Richmond, Jennifer L and Hochrainer, Stefan and Handmer, John and Patwardhan, Anand and Qiu, Yueming (Lucy) and Liu, Pengfei, Building Better: What Determines Who Adopts Fire-Resistant Housing Materials in California?. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4260087 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4260087

Jennifer L Richmond (Contact Author)

University of Maryland - College Park ( email )

College Park, MD 20742
United States

Stefan Hochrainer

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) ( email )

Schlossplatz 1
Laxenburg, A-2361
Austria

John Handmer

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

No Address Available

Anand Patwardhan

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

No Address Available

Yueming (Lucy) Qiu

School of Public Policy, University of Maryland at College Park ( email )

Pengfei Liu

University of Rhode Island - Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics ( email )

Kingston, RI 02881
United States

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