Smart Home America developed the BRA²C₂E® Framework in 2015 to define a replicable, community-level approach to resilience. It is not a single program or policy initiative. It is a method for permanently embedding stronger building practices, insurance stability, and hazard awareness into the systems that shape how communities are built, governed, and financed.
The framework takes its name from its five components: Building Resilience through Advocacy, Action, Collaboration, Convening, and Education. Together, these pillars guide SHA's engagement with policymakers, insurers, builders, lenders, and community leaders to deliver measurable, scalable, and lasting outcomes.
The Alabama insurance market is the proof-of-concept. After Hurricanes Katrina and Ivan exposed critical vulnerabilities in Gulf Coast building standards and insurance markets, SHA deployed the BRA²C₂E® approach over five years to stabilize the market. That model is now being replicated in states across the country.
Advocacy
SHA engages elected officials, regulators, and industry leaders at every level of government with data and technical resources that demonstrate modern building standards reduce disaster losses, lower recovery costs, and stabilize insurance markets. Advocacy work targets the policy levers that drive market change:
- Building code adoption and enforcement
- State mitigation grant program development, including the Strengthen Alabama Homes model, is now expanding to states nationwide.
- Housing finance policy through Qualified Action Plans and federal incentive programs
- Insurance regulatory engagement to reward risk-reducing construction
Action
Policy only creates change when it is implemented on the ground. SHA works directly with state and local governments, builders, insurers, and financial institutions to translate resilience commitments into funded programs and real construction outcomes:
- Administering and replicating mitigation grant programs
- Developing the Construction Code Supplement, which bridges standard codes and FORTIFIED construction standards
- Creating resilient mortgage products that incentivize buyers to build or purchase a FORTIFIED or Wildfire Prepared Home
- Supporting municipalities in developing Resilient Housing Plans using SHA's Resilient Housing Planning Guide
Collaboration
No single organization can shift a market on its own. SHA cultivates cross-sector partnerships among builders, insurers, policymakers, nonprofits, lenders, and academics to align interests and resources around shared resilience goals. Active collaboration partners include:
- The Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS)
- The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)
- National and state Home Builder Associations
- Habitat for Humanity affiliates and other nonprofit housing developers
- Federal Home Loan Banks and housing finance agencies
Convening
SHA brings stakeholders together to share knowledge, build trust, and develop region-specific strategies. Through forums, legislative briefings, and working sessions, SHA creates the conditions for the organic relationships that sustain long-term change. Recent convenings have aligned construction and insurance industry leaders across six states and engaged the Federal Housing Finance Agency on resilience incentives in federally backed mortgage programs.
Education
Education is the most pervasive and persistent component of the framework. SHA delivers continuing education, technical training, and public outreach across a wide range of professional audiences:
- Builders and contractors seeking FORTIFIED certification training
- Insurance producers, agents, and underwriters are learning to evaluate and price risk reduction
- Building officials and code enforcement professionals
- Real estate agents and appraisers
- Elected officials and planners
- Homeowners through campaigns like Don't Goof When You Re-Roof
SHA's goal is to train 30,000 resilience champions nationwide by 2030.
Why It Works
BRA²C₂E® is adaptable. It begins with a community risk analysis, assesses the regulatory and funding landscape, identifies gaps in awareness and capacity, and deploys targeted strategies that fit local conditions. It does not impose a single solution. It builds toward one outcome: communities where resilience is the standard, not the exception.
For partners and funders, the framework offers a clear theory of change backed by measurable indicators. SHA tracks:
- Building code adoption rates
- Mitigation grant program implementation and reach
- Training completions and professional certifications
- Insurance market stabilization outcomes
- Structural survivability data following storm events
Join Us
SHA's 2030 strategic plan, BRA²C₂E® for What's Next, sets an ambitious course for the next five years. We are seeking partners and funders who share our commitment to making resilient construction the norm nationwide.