Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. is launching a green insurance option for homeowners that will allow people with conventional homes to rebuild to the latest environmental standards after a loss.The Novato, Calif.-based company, a division of the Allianz Group, will start offering green-home coverage to Californians on Aug. 1 as part of one of its regular policy packages.Company officials declined to estimate how much a typical policy with green coverage will cost in California, saying it depends on factors such as the size and location of the home.But outside California -- where Fireman's is selling green coverage as an add-on to regular policies -- the cost would be an additional $70 per year for a home insured at $1 million.The move by Fireman's -- which became the first insurer to offer green coverage for commercial buildings two years ago -- is a response to growing interest among homeowners in environmentally friendly design and materials.Residential spending on green construction and remodeling was $8 billion in 2005 and could rise as high as $39 billion in 2010, according to the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council."Going green is very hot now," said Donald Soss, chief underwriting officer for Fireman's Fund Personal Insurance. "We had expertise because of our green program for commercial buildings. And we kept getting asked by our agents, 'When will you do this for personal lines?' "Lexington Insurance Co., a division of AIG, recently introduced a similar kind of green policy for homeowners. But it is not available in California, although it can be bought through surplus lines brokers.Fireman's green coverage will allow a policyholder whose home has been partially damaged to repair it with environmentally preferable materials such as Energy Star lighting and ventilation, sustainably harvested wood, and nontoxic paints and carpeting.People whose homes have been totally destroyed can rebuild to the Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design, or LEED, standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council. The policy provides up to $25,000 to hire a LEED-certified architect to oversee the rebuilding and LEED application process."That's huge," said Mike McDonald, an Oakland, Calif., builder with McDonald Construction & Development who just completed a LEED-certified home in Rockridge. "The paperwork and inspections in this process are crazy. So if they pay for a LEED consultant, it makes a difference."Fireman's Fund's green initiative also includes a 5 percent premium discount for homes that already meet green standards.Fireman's Fund currently has about 65,000 homeowner policyholders and 42,700 commercial policyholders in California.Nationally, it sold more than 360 green policies for commercial buildings last year, 150 of which were in California. The company expects to sell 1,500 green commercial policies in 2008.(E-mail Ilana DeBare at idebare(at)sfchronicle.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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