Engineering Solutions for Fire Safety and Sustainable Building Design
By: Tamara Želimorski and Grunde Jomaas, FRISSBE, ZAG, Slovenia
Introduction
At the end of November and the beginning of December 2023, SFPE arranged a Symposium in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The participants addressed the challenges and looked for correlations between fire safety and sustainable building design. Mr. Chris Jelenewicz, CEO of SFPE, and the Minister of Economy, Tourism and Sport, Matjaž Han opened the event, which featured presentations by experts from around the world.
Sustainability challenges
“The symposium has an important and timely focus, as safety is becoming an increasingly important topic today. It is also crucial to have competent professionals that can implement fire safety through decisions based on state-of-the-art knowledge and research,” Minister Han said at the start of his opening speech.
He continued: “With the rapidly changing demands of the Green Deal, RePowerEU and other initiatives, for example, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, your role in managing the risks posed by innovation has become even more challenging. These risks can be associated with micro-mobility devices such as electric scooters, electric and hybrid cars, photovoltaics, timber buildings, and facades – all topics you will discuss.”
Towards the end, Minister Han exhorted: “In a period of increasing impacts of climate change, strategic collaboration between the fields of fire safety and sustainable building design is not only advisable, rather, it is essential. Therefore, I would like to thank you for your efforts and wish you a successful event, full of exchange of knowledge and experience. If you are successful, and I believe you will be, your work will shape the future of our built environment and leave a legacy of safe, sustainable, and adaptable buildings, that will stand the test of time.”
Figure 1. The Slovenian Minister of Economy, Tourism and Sport, Mr. Matjaž Han gave the opening speech to an audience of about 100 persons, with, from left to right, Aleš Žnidarič (ZAG director), Draško Veselinovič (SBRA president), Jimmy Jönsson (SFPE president) and Chris Jelenewicz (SFPE CEO) making up the front row.
Photo credit: Tamara Želimorski
Reflections on the Event
Jakob Strømann-Andersen (Director, Innovation and Sustainability at Henning Larsen) [LinkedIn post]:
“What is the biggest barrier or concern regarding mass timber construction and the use of biogenic materials in construction? Fire safety, and that is why I just spent two days at the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) Solutions Symposium for Fire Safety and Sustainable Building Design in Ljubljana. Being together and discussing the subject with Europe’s leading experts within fire safety gave me a lot of learnings. One key takeaway is that we cannot rely solely on the Performance-Based Approach to Fire Safety Design. It's crucial to develop and share standardized, pre-accepted solutions for biogenic constructions across Europe. Our conversations also delved into the delicate balance between fire safety and climate actions, leading us to a profound conclusion – not merely rescuing individuals from fires, but actively working towards safeguarding humanity from the far-reaching impacts of global warming!”
Christian Fundby Schou (Head of Advanced Product Development, DBI) [LinkedIn post]:
“FIRE ENGINEERS ASSEMBLE! The Building Industry has huge potentials for reducing carbon footprint using less resources in a smarter and more innovative way with new materials and construction principles. We do not have time to waste. We need speed and acceleration, but also knowledge and documentation. In this fast-paced sustainable transition, fire safety requirements are one of the biggest showstoppers. Fire Engineers can either be the villains that prevents OR be the Heroes who saves the day and makes the future solutions possible. I am on my way home from the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) ‘Engineering Solutions Symposium on Fire Safety & Sustainable Building Design’ with great optimism after meeting and talking with a long list of fire engineering Heroes that I believe can and will use their influence to create an impact in realizing sustainability goals while ensuring fire safety. An important topic was competency among fire engineers and the moral compass and responsibility that our Heroes needs to balance.”
Figure 2. The symposium featured a very strong lineup with a broad range of backgrounds from numerous countries. Speaker photo (partial) from day 1, from left to right: Brian Meacham (USA), Francesca Sciarretta (Italy), Heikki Väänänen (Finland), Christian Fundby Schou (Denmark), Giombattista Traina (Italy), Daniel Joyeux (France), Birgitte Messerschmidt (USA), Wojciech Węgrzyński (Poland), Jimmy Jönsson (Spain), Grunde Jomaas (Slovenia), Margaret McNamee (Sweden) and Antonio Terio (Italy). Photo credit: Tamara Želimorski
From Theory to Practice – Laboratory Visit with Live Fire Resistance Test of a CLT Wall
The Symposium closed on Friday, 1 December, with an optional excursion to Logatec, home to ZAG’s new Fire laboratory, arguably the most modern fire laboratory in this part of Europe. Participants were invited for a laboratory tour and to observe the live fire resistance test of a full-scale loaded cross-laminated timber (CLT) wall in a vertical furnace.
The test, which lasted for about an hour and a half, was accompanied by presentations (by Klemen Klemenak and Andrea Lucherini). Following the talks, while a live stream of temperatures and test video was projected, the following persons were involved in a panel discussion moderated by Grunde Jomaas (FRISSBE, ZAG), see Figure 3:
- Sean DeCrane (IAFF)
- Andrea Lucherini (FRISSBE, ZAG)
- Klemen Klemenak (Stora Enso)
- Aleš Jug (SZPV)
- Boštjan Žagar (Ljubljana Fire brigade)
Figure 3. Panel debate with the furnace test streamed live in the background. Photo credit: Tamara Želimorski
Further Reading
· SFPE Event Website
· Full Program
· Speaker Bios
· Event Recap and Photos (ZAG)
· Event leadup by International Fire & Safety Journal
“The FRISSBE project has received funding from the European Union‘s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation under Grant Agreement No. 952395”