MSB Adds 1,500 Green Items to Its Industry-Leading Partial Loss Claims Database

NEW BERLIN, Wis., May 3 /PRNewswire/ -- MSB, the leading worldwide provider of building cost data and estimating technology to the property insurance industry and a MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) company, will add 1,500 new green items to its industry-leading Total Component Database. This 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. 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," said Jonathan Kost, senior vice president at MSB. "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."

Although this new item set provides carriers with the information their estimators need to support green endorsements today, green building is a rapidly evolving entity. To ensure MSB enables its customers to stay ahead of the changes in green building, it recently added two construction subject matter experts to its Data Assets team, specifically focused on researching and identifying needs in this area.

"Every piece of research indicates that the green market will continue its rapid acceleration throughout the coming years, and MSB is dedicated to making sure our customers have the tools their adjusters need to accurately estimate in a greener world," Kost said. "Just as EyeQ enables new adjusters to do their job as quickly and accurately as seasoned pros, these new items enable all adjusters to support green policy endorsements without being green building experts. MSB does the research, provides the data on components and building methodology, and our EyeQ and IntegriClaim estimating software solutions provide the interface. Going green becomes a click-and-go process. What is unique about the implementation of the green database in EyeQ is that it is built as an assembly, including both the specific components and the supporting building materials and methods needed to achieve a restoration project that fulfills on a green restoration policy endorsement. "

MSB plans to release more new green items in updates each quarter. "The number and type of green items available to the market will be different three months from now -- even three weeks from now," Kost said. "We have two employees, with a combined 43 years of experience, specifically dedicated to researching these green trends and updating our database, as well as a product that makes it easy to use this data for accurate estimating in the field. MSB is staying ahead of the green industry, so our clients can stay ahead and gain a competitive advantage. Today, being good to the environment is good for business. We're helping our clients achieve that balance. In the end, everybody wins."

About MSB

MSB, also known as Marshall & Swift / Boeckh, is an MDA company and the leading supplier of local building cost information, residential and commercial property valuation technology and services for the property and casualty insurance sector of the United States and Canada. MSB has five offices throughout the U.S. and Canada.

About MDA

MSB is owned by MDA. MDA provides advanced information solutions that capture and process vast amounts of data, produce essential information and improve the decision-making and operational performance of business and government organizations worldwide.

Focused on markets and customers with strong repeat business potential, MDA delivers a broad spectrum of Earth and space based information solutions, including complex operational systems, tailored information services and electronic information products.

MDA employs more than 2,700 people in locations across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The Company's common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol TSX: MDA.

SOURCE MSB