As a cooperative organization Achmea strongly believes in tackling problems collaboratively, and climate change is one such challenge. Achmea recognizes the consequences of climate change and has seen the cost and inconvenience of climate change related damage to our customers. Webelieve that it is our corporate social responsibility to help make vulnerable assets resistant, or more resistant, to the consequences of climate change. By linking smart technology with available data, BlueLabel is the perfect instrument for this purpose.

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Climate change and increasing urbanization mean that society must be prepared for increasing risks and challenges caused by, among other things, extreme rainfall. Awareness of these risks is an important step in improving our living environment. BlueLabel provides accurate insight as a basis for measures that can then be taken by governments, companies and citizens. At RHDHV, we are motivated by this vision of enhancing society together.

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As expert consultants in the field of water, Nelen & Schuurmans aims to contribute to a healthy and sustainable living environment by making the best possible information available. The purpose of BlueLabel is to provide accurate insight into the risk and consequences of extreme rainfall for governments, organisations and citizens – and this accords perfectly with our mission.

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The main objective is to identify potential rainfall-induced flood risks in and around private property, commercial buildings and infrastructure. The intention is to enable governments, organisations and individuals to plan and implement effective measures that contribute towards more flood resilient neighbourhoods, towns and cities. The ultimate objective is to create a better quality of life for all.

Accurate information about the potential risk of flooding due to extreme weather conditions is essential, and we believe in an approach that is based on collaboration and partnership. By tackling social problems such as climate change together with consumers, public stakeholders, private parties and governments, we believe we can achieve far more.

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BlueLabel is a digital risk analysis tool that highlights areas vulnerable to flooding with an accuracy that can pinpoint individual buildings, properties and streets. BlueLabel translates the risk of flooding into an easily understandable ranking using a context labelling system. This is depicted visually for each property, street and infrastructure object – allowing people to understand risk at a glance.

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In the event of flooding, possible consequences are loss of life, damage to immovable assets and damage to critical infrastructure networks that may be pivotal in after-event recovery. BlueLabel provides insight into the bottlenecks caused by flooding due to excessive rain within an area. As such, BlueLabel provides municipalities, residents, companies and agencies with insights required to plan measures to make infrastructure, business and private properties more climate-proof and water-resilient.

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The foremost public responsibility for governments and municipalities should always be the safety of citizens. With climate change and urbanisation, leaders are now faced with the challenge of planning for disaster management in larger and more densely populated urban areas. In the event of flooding, possible consequences are the risk of loss of life, and damage to critical infrastructure networks (pivotal in after-event recovery) and immovable assets.

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The Netherland’s Delta Programme for 2018 was presented at the state opening of Parliament in September 2017, and is aimed at ensuring that flood risk management, freshwater supply, and spatial planning will be climate-resilient by 2050. Every Dutch municipality is thereby legally obliged to carry out a stress test by 2019. BlueLabel provides the required test results (and more), and can therefore be used 1-on-1 to meet the stress test requirement for municipalities.

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The availability of BlueLabel in your area depends on your geography, but also on the use of BlueLabel by local institutes and governments. Contact us today and we’ll make sure to connect with you to explore opportunities and applications of BlueLabel for you.

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Absolutely! Please contact us. We can work together to see how we can tailor this for you.

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BlueLabel is derived from an accurate calculation using a state-of-the-art hydrodynamic model and a predefined extreme rainfall event, in combination with local topographical data. But it may well be that this type of rain event has not occurred near your property in the recent past and that you therefore have not experienced any inconvenience before. However, due to climate change, extreme rainfall will start to occur more often and that is why we are preparing for such events.

You can provide important data to enhance the accuracy of your BlueLabel such as the lowest threshold height of your doorstep or basement window. Currently we use an estimate based on the location of the ground level around your home. If you believe the height used is incorrect, you can inform us of the correct height and we will adjust the calculations accordinglyin our frequently updated back-end models. Please contact us.

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Currently BlueLabel is available to you, as a private citizen, only through your municipality if it is subscribed to BlueLabel. Our intention is to offer BlueLabel directly to consumers at a later stage. For now, you can provide updated information related to you plot or neighbourhood. This allows us to provide a more efficient and effective service. Please contact us if you would like to provide these updates.

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An X-label is given if we could not determine the Bluelabel for your property. Your property is probably situated in a newly developed urban area of which the elevation data wasn’t available at the time of our risk assessment. When the elevation data (AHN-3) is not available it is not possible to make a risk assessment. The good news is that in the Netherlands the elevation data is renewed every 5 years, thus we will be able to provide your Bluelabel is the future.

Check when the elevation data becomes available for you here.

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At present, all insurers use different house specifications as well as the location of your home to calculate premiums. For example, the type of roof and surface area. We believe that BlueLabel adds an important element to this. However, our insurance partner Achmea has taken the position for themselves that BlueLabel insights will focus on mitigation and resilience and not be used for premium differentiation.

The value of your home house is determined by several factors. We do not expect that BlueLabel will have much impact on the value of your property, if any. However, in most countries it is already a condition of sale that, if you as a homeowner are susceptible to flooding, you must disclose this information. As a potential buyer, you may want to be well-informed about the risk of flooding. For the time being, BlueLabel is primarily intended to create awareness around flood related risk on your house and property.

No, it is not mandatory to have a BlueLabel report. However, in the Netherlands, all municipalities must provide insight into the impact of extreme precipitation by carrying out a climate stress test by 2019.

In addition to insight into the risk caused by extreme rainfall, BlueLabel also provides several tips on how to reduce the risk of flooding and how to increase resilience. However, it is important to realize that flooding is not always preventable through the implementation of measures on the plot itself. It is therefore also important to look for the most effective measures in consultation with your local municipality and other stakeholders. Please contact us for further information.

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Hydrodynamic 3Di models are used to derive BlueMaps. These models are based on the latest version of the Current Elevation Map of the Netherlands and the land use map (BGT) available elevation data. In other parts of the world, LIDAR and/or other inputs on elevation can be, and are, used. Other important parameters are land use, infiltration, open water bodies, and existing drainage systems.

BlueLabel is based on the difference between the water depth on the property and the threshold height, taking into consideration the intensity of the outside rainfall conditions. The threshold height is estimated based on the location of the ground level around your house/building. If you believe the height used is not correct, then you can report the correct height to us so that we can update our data.

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The data has been calculated on the “Herwijnen” precipitation event, where 93mm of rain was recorded in 70 minutes. If you would like to know more about this, please contact us.

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Several municipalities have a model in which sewerage is included. This is not the case for all municipalities and we have taken this into account when determining the BlueMaps via weighing factors. It is possible to expand the model to include a sewer model where such information is available.

Yes, you can also derive a BlueLabel from a flood map calculated with a model other than 3Di. To be able to do this properly, we do need some basic information about how the flood map is derived. Please contact us so that we can tailor it to your needs.