Natural Hazards and Earth System Science www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net 1561-8633 1684-9981 6 4 2006 10.5194/nhess-6-541-2006 http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/6/541/2006/ http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/6/541/2006/nhess-6-541-2006.html http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/6/541/2006/nhess-6-541-2006.pdf 541 552 2006-06-15 Estimation of the regional stock of residential buildings as a basis for a comparative risk assessment in Germany L. Kleist A. H. Thieken P. Köhler M. Müller I. Seifert D. Borst U. Werner University of Karlsruhe (TH), Institute for Economic Policy Research, 76128 Karlsruhe, Germany GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (GFZ), Section Engineering Hydrology and Data Center, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany University of Karlsruhe (TH), Institute for Finance Banking and Insurance, 76128 Karlsruhe, Germany Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology (CEDIM), 76128 Karlsruhe, Germany One important prerequisite for a comparable quantitative risk assessment for different types of hazards (e.g., earthquakes, windstorms and floods) is the use of a common database about and financial appraisal of the assets at risk. For damage assessments it is necessary to represent the values at risk on a regional disaggregated scale and to intersect them with hazard scenarios. This paper presents a methodology and results of a financial appraisal of residential buildings for all communities in Germany. The calculated values are defined as replacement values for the reference year 2000. The resulting average replacement costs for residential buildings per inhabitant amount to EUR 46 600, with considerable differences between communities. The inventory can be used for the calculations of direct losses from various natural disasters within the project "Risk Map Germany''.