Panelist
Panelist
Mr. Michael Newman
General Counsel Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety
Michael Newman joined the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) in 2020 with nearly 20 years of experience in law and public policy. Convinced that the damage, disruption, and dislocation all too often associated with natural disasters can be reduced or even prevented, Michael works with a team of scientists and risk communicators that deliver strategies to build safer and stronger homes and businesses. IBHS’s real-world impact enables the insurance industry and affected property owners to prevent avoidable losses.
Michael serves as IBHS’s General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. He is the head of IBHS’s public policy, partnerships, and code development teams. IBHS seeks to inform, educate, and engage policymakers in support of policies that strengthen the resilience of housing, businesses, and communities. In this capacity, Michael also leads IBHS’s engagement with affordable housing providers, developers, funders, and policymakers. Michael joined IBHS from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he worked on a range of domestic and international policy issues related to climate change, resilience, cybersecurity, and insurance supervision.
Speaking at
Mon Mar 16
3:30 PM — 4:30 PM (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time
The Cost and ROI of Sustainability
Real estate developers and owners have long faced rising costs—from regulatory hurdles to materials, labor, and land. More recently, sustainability requirements and increasing insurance premiums have made already challenging projects even harder to make financially viable. In this panel, speakers will dispel common myths by examining whether sustainability and resilience measures truly add cost. They will highlight available resources and incentives and explain how these measures affect a project’s return on investment. Attendees will gain a clearer understanding of how to finance sustainable and resilient developments—and the benefits these strategies bring to residents, communities, and project stakeholders alike.