MSB adds green items to its cost data

MSB, a worldwide provider of building cost data and estimating technology to the property insurance industry, will add 1,500 new green items to its Total Component Database. Its new database item set will deploy electronically and be available for use in the company’s EyeQ and IntegriClaim claims estimating systems that same day.“To gain a competitive advantage, many carriers have created insurance products that respond to the ‘greening’ of North America,” said Jonathan Kost, senior vice president at MSB. “Green building is on the rise, and carriers are leveraging the growing environmental movement by creating green endorsement policies. “However, estimating green restoration costs isn’t a simple matter of substituting one item for another. In many cases, choosing a green item may require the estimator to modify supplies and other construction materials, factor in recycling costs and include installation rates based on local labor to minimize travel.”MSB plans to release more new green items in updates each quarter.