The 15th SFPE Fire Safety Conference & Expo on Performance-based Design to be held in person April 17-19, 2024, in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Case Study Presentations have been a major feature of previous SFPE performance-based conferences, and very well regarded by delegates.
You will see there is a strong emphasis on performance-based design and fire engineering solutions, and the Case Studies reflect this desire for an exploration of innovative solutions. The teams should not feel restricted by common codes and standards and unique and innovative solutions are encouraged. One of the primary goals of the exercise is the resulting non-critical discussion, comparison and reflection of the various proposed fire and life safety strategies.
For this conference, the overall Case Study theme is based upon the initial stages of a remote development to include housing, recreational and co-living/working spaces. The remote location includes very limited existing utilities and infrastructure, no existing local emergency response, and no existing locally adopted codes and standards. There are three (3) building types with associated Case Study Building Specification from which to choose and each team is invited to address one (1) of the three building types.
1. Worker Housing – Due to the remote location, worker housing during the development of a new large scale building project will be needed. The owners would like to develop small apartment style (“pod” building) housing for use during the development with possible transition to low income and/or staff housing post completion of the larger site. The owners would like to maximize the use of the available land by constructing the “pod” buildings as close together and as tall as possible. The design team(s) are tasked with developing the criteria for building height and placement to maintain the fire and life safety goals. The full specification is located in Attachment 1.
2. Recreational Forest Tower – The Skovtarnet is an existing nature viewing tower located outside Copenhagen. The owners of this development would like to take the concept to a more complex level by constructing a larger version, including restaurant/bar/event space at the top, and including additional recreational options such as repelling and zip lining from the peak. The tower will be a self-supported wood structure with a single ingress/egress path due to the helical design. The full specification is located in Attachment 2.
3. Co-living/working Facility – The main first phase of the large remote development will consist of a multi-use and multi-purpose building to include residential spaces, office/work spaces, and retail areas surrounding a large gaming (casino) facility. The owners would like to use a podium concept with as much wood construction as possible. Sustainable practices are also important and the owners would like to incorporate green roofs, solar energy, living walls, and the use of electric scooter/vehicles. The full specification is located in Attachment 3.
The Case Study Specification for each of the three buildings types sets out the details of what is proposed in terms of:
- the desired design and general layout of each facility
- the general analysis and performance-based strategies anticipated
- the information required in the Case Study report/presentation
- the information to be presented in a PowerPoint presentation at the conference
- the timeframes for delivery of report and presentation
Your Chapter/Organization is encouraged to build a team to develop the fire and life safety strategies for one of these Case Studies. The team may come from one company or organization or include other organizations/chapters if you want to partner on a specific design. Ideally each team includes student members.
As you will see in the Case Study Specifications, we want the teams to be innovative in terms of the building design/analysis and be creative in terms of building solutions and fire safety strategies. For each Case Study Specification, there are no existing adopted codes or standards, and the teams are encouraged to solely utilize performance-based methods, calculations, and modeling to develop the fire safety strategies.
The aim is to have six to eight Case Studies in total, with at least two Case Studies for each of the topics identified. The Case Studies will be presented in the general sessions of the Conference Program. The intent is to have each of the Case Studies be from different countries and/or regions. However, this will ultimately depend on the submittals that are received and selected.
After each of the Case Study presentation sessions, there will be a non-critical panel discussion to compare and contrast the different regulatory regimes, the building solutions, the fire safety measures incorporated, the supporting analysis and modelling and any other key issues.
All Chapters/Organizations that submit a Case Study will be invited to submit reports for publication, and those not selected for presentation in the general sessions will have the opportunity to present their Case Study as a poster at the conference.
If your Chapter/Organization is keen to make a submittal for the opportunity to undertake the development of a Case Study, and to be able to present it in Denmark, we need you to prepare a brief proposal, stating:
- Which Case Study building type you will work on;
- Name the team who will undertake the work (including team leader and deputy);
- Short CVs of the key individuals on the team;
- Why your Case Study should be one of the nine presented in general session;
- The team’s experience or interest in undertaking design and analysis of this type of building or similar; and
- Your commitment to undertake the Case Study and meet the timeframes involved.
The Program Committee will select the best case studies, with the aims to give coverage of all three building types, and to have a reasonable spread across all regions globally, taking into account countries with well-developed performance based regimes, but also those in developing or emerging markets.
The timeframes for submittals and undertaking the Case Studies are as follows:
- Brief proposals (as outlined above) submitted to SFPE by October 10, 2023
- Draft Case Study report submitted to SFPE by January 1, 2024
- Final Report submitted to SFPE by February 15, 2024
- Draft PowerPoint Presentation submitted to SFPE by March 1, 2024
- Final PowerPoint Presentation submitted to SFPE by March 31, 2024
We look forward to consideration of this Case Study opportunity by your Chapter members. The Case Studies have been an exciting part of the past 14 International Performance-based SFPE conferences and the 2024 conference in Copenhagen will be no different.
If you have any questions or need clarification, please contact at education@sfpe.org. We look forward to your submissions and selecting the best case studies for presentation showcasing your work at the conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Thank you for your interest and support!