The International Fraud of Plastics Recycling & E.U. Statistical Reliability ?!?

Posted by CJ Walsh

2024-02-17:  A very recent Report: The Fraud of Plastic Recycling – How Big Oil and the Plastics Industry Deceived the Public for Decades and Caused the Plastic Waste Crisis … published by the Centre for Climate Integrity ( www.climateintegrity,org ), in Washington D.C., #USA … raises serious issues about whether Any Plastic Recycling is technically or economically viable at scale … and serious questions, by implication, about Statistical Reliability in the European Union (#EU) concerning Recycling generally, and Plastics Recycling in particular.

Could this also be the Reason why the Global North is so busy dumping Un-Recyclable Plastics in the previously colonized territories of the Global South ???

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Short Extract From This Report’s Introduction …

Plastic Pollution is one of the most serious Environmental Crises facing the world today.  Between 1950 and 2015, over 90% of plastics were landfilled, incinerated, or leaked into the environment.  Plastic Waste is ubiquitous – from our rivers, lakes, and oceans to roadways and coastlines.  It is in ‘the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink’.  One study estimates that humans ingest up to five grams, or the equivalent of one credit card worth of plastic per week.  Some of the largest Oil and Gas Companies are among the 20 petrochemical companies responsible for more than half of all single-use plastics generated globally.  #ExxonMobil, for example, is the world’s top producer of single-use plastic polymers.

Underpinning this Plastic Waste Crisis is a decades-long campaign of #Fraud and #Deception about the #Recyclability of #Plastics.  Despite their long-standing knowledge that recycling plastic is neither technically nor economically viable, petrochemical companies – independently and through their industry trade associations and front groups – have engaged in fraudulent marketing and public education campaigns designed to mislead the public about the viability of plastic recycling as a solution to Plastic Waste.

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February 2024

The Fraud of Plastic Recycling – How Big Oil and the Plastics Industry Deceived the Public for Decades and Caused the Plastic Waste Crisis

[ Download PDF File, 2.82 MB ]

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This Report’s Conclusion …

By deceiving consumers, policymakers, and regulators about the viability of Plastic Recycling, petrochemical companies have ensured the continued expansion of plastic production, which has led to a Plastic Waste and Pollution Crisis for communities across the country.  The costs of managing and cleaning up Plastic Waste are largely borne by municipal and state governments – and those costs are projected to increase exponentially in the coming decades, given that Plastic Waste generation in the United States of America is expected to increase from 73 million metric tonnes in 2019 to more than 140 million metric tonnes by 2060.

If not for the Big Oil and the plastic industry’s lies and deception, municipalities and states would not have invested in plastic recycling programmes and facilities – many of which have been shut down due to foreseeable economic losses.  The industry not only misled municipal and state agencies to believe that Plastic Recycling was a viable solution to Plastic Waste but also discouraged them from pursuing other, more Sustainable Waste Management Strategies (e.g., waste reduction, reuse, bans, alternative materials) in favour of plastic recycling.

Fossil fuel and other petrochemical companies should now be held accountable for their deliberate campaign of deception and the resulting harms, much like tobacco and opioid companies that employed a similar playbook.  Based on the growing body of evidence, municipalities and states are likely to pursue litigation, which could put an end to the industry’s deception, make the companies pay for the devastating harms they have caused to communities, and open the door to real solutions that are currently out of reach.

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February 2024

Link To … Excerpts of Key Documents Cited in ‘The Fraud of Plastic Recycling’

(PDF File, Warning 30.53 MB)

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#Sustainability #InternationalFraud #Plastics #PlasticsRecycling #EUstatisticalReliability #GlobalNorth #GlobalSouth #PlasticPollution #EnvironmentalCrisis #PlasticWaste #OilCompanies #GasCompanies #TechnicalViability #EconomicViability #PlasticsIndustry #BigOil #ClimateIntegrity #Reliability #Resilience #SustainableWasteManagementStrategies #SIA #SustainabilityImpactAssessment

United Nations 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

Posted by CJ Walsh

2024-01-16 …

[ Approved and proposed for signature, and ratification or accession, by U.N. General Assembly Resolution 260 A (III) of 9 December 1948.  Entry into force: 12 January 1951, in accordance with article XIII. ]

The Contracting Parties,

Having considered the declaration made by the General Assembly of the United Nations in its Resolution 96 (I), dated 11 December 1946, that Genocide is a crime under international law, contrary to the spirit and aims of the United Nations and condemned by the civilized world,

Recognizing that at all periods of history, Genocide has inflicted great losses on humanity,  and

Being convinced that, in order to liberate mankind from such an odious scourge, international co-operation is required,

Hereby agree as hereinafter provided:

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Article I

The Contracting Parties confirm that Genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.

Article II

In the present Convention, Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group ;

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group ;

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part ;

(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group ;

(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Article III

The following acts shall be punishable:

(a) Genocide ;

(b) Conspiracy to commit Genocide ;

(c) Direct and public incitement to commit Genocide ;

(d) Attempt to commit Genocide ;

(e) Complicity in Genocide.

Article IV

Persons committing Genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals.

Article V

The Contracting Parties undertake to enact, in accordance with their respective Constitutions, the necessary legislation to give effect to the provisions of the present Convention, and, in particular, to provide effective penalties for persons guilty of Genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III.

Article VI

Persons charged with Genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be tried by a competent tribunal of the State in the territory of which the act was committed, or by such international penal tribunal as may have jurisdiction with respect to those Contracting Parties which shall have accepted its jurisdiction.

Article VII

Genocide and the other acts enumerated in article III shall not be considered as political crimes for the purpose of extradition.

The Contracting Parties pledge themselves in such cases to grant extradition in accordance with their laws and treaties in force.

Article VIII

Any Contracting Party may call upon the competent organs of the United Nations to take such action under the Charter of the United Nations as they consider appropriate for the prevention and suppression of acts of Genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III.

Article IX

Disputes between the Contracting Parties relating to the interpretation, application or fulfilment of the present Convention, including those relating to the responsibility of a State for Genocide or for any of the other acts enumerated in article III, shall be submitted to the International Court of Justice at the request of any of the parties to the dispute.

Article X

The present Convention, of which the Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall bear the date of 9 December 1948.

Article XI

The present Convention shall be open until 31 December 1949 for signature on behalf of any Member of the United Nations and of any non-member State to which an invitation to sign has been addressed by the General Assembly.

The present Convention shall be ratified, and the instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

After 1 January 1950, the present Convention may be acceded to on behalf of any Member of the United Nations and of any non-member State which has received an invitation as aforesaid.

Instruments of accession shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Article XII

Any Contracting Party may at any time, by notification addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, extend the application of the present Convention to all or any of the territories for the conduct of whose foreign relations that Contracting Party is responsible.

Article XIII

On the day when the first twenty instruments of ratification or accession have been deposited, the Secretary-General shall draw up a procès-verbal, and transmit a copy thereof to each Member of the United Nations and to each of the non-member States contemplated in article XI.

The present Convention shall come into force on the ninetieth day following the date of deposit of the twentieth instrument of ratification or accession.

Any ratification or accession effected subsequent to the latter date shall become effective on the ninetieth day following the deposit of the instrument of ratification or accession.

Article XIV

The present Convention shall remain in effect for a period of ten years as from the date of its coming into force.

It shall thereafter remain in force for successive periods of five years for such Contracting Parties as have not denounced it at least six months before the expiration of the current period.

Denunciation shall be effected by a written notification addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Article XV

If, as a result of denunciations, the number of Parties to the present Convention should become less than sixteen, the Convention shall cease to be in force as from the date on which the last of these denunciations shall become effective.

Article XVI

A request for the revision of the present Convention may be made at any time by any Contracting Party by means of a notification in writing addressed to the Secretary-General.

The General Assembly shall decide upon the steps, if any, to be taken in respect of such request.

Article XVII

The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall notify all Members of the United Nations and the non-member States contemplated in article XI of the following:

(a) Signatures, ratifications and accessions received in accordance with article XI ;

(b) Notifications received in accordance with article XII ;

(c) The date upon which the present Convention comes into force in accordance with article XIII ;

(d) Denunciations received in accordance with article XIV ;

(e) The abrogation of the Convention in accordance with article XV ;

(f) Notifications received in accordance with article XVI.

Article XVIII

The original of the present Convention shall be deposited in the archives of the United Nations.

A certified copy of the Convention shall be transmitted to each Member of the United Nations and to each of the non-member States contemplated in article XI.

Article XIX

The present Convention shall be registered by the Secretary-General of the United Nations on the date of its coming into force.

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#UN #UnitedNations #InternationalLaw #ICJ #TheHague #Palestine #Israel #BenjaminNetanyahu #SouthAfrica #GlobalSouth #BRICS #West #GlobalNorth #Genocide #GenocideConvention #GenocideComplicity #USA #JoeBiden #Britain #UK #LittleEngland #RishiSunak #Germany #OlafScholz #Namibia #GermanSouthWestAfrica #EuropeanColonialism #BDS #IndigenousPeoples #Ovaherero #Herero #Ovambanderu #Mbanderu #Namaqua #Nama #SupportBDS #LandTheft #ExtrajudicialKillings #Massacres #GenocideReparations #BerlinAfricaConference #ForensicArchitecture #ECCHR #RosaLuxemburgFoundation #Africa #Europe #GazaGhetto #IOF #IsraelOccupationForces

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Forensic Architecture | Restituting Evidence: 1904-1908 Genocide & Reparations in German Colonial Namibia … https://forensic-architecture.org/investigation/restituting-evidence-genocide-and-reparations-in-german-colonial-namibia-phase-1

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Forensic Architecture | Living Archaeology in the Israeli Occupied Gaza Ghetto, with 2023 Update … https://forensic-architecture.org/investigation/living-archaeology-in-gaza/#updates

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Sustainable Fire Engineering Design & Process – Using No Way, As Way

Posted by CJ Walsh

2023-10-11:  Theory is one thing, but the practical working out and implementation of Sustainable Fire Engineering Design is something else …

The (Sustainable) Fire Engineer will already be an active, contributing member of a collaborative Project Design Team.  So, very early on in the Design Process for a Simple Building / Complex Building / Innovative Building / High-Rise Building / Tall Building or Group of Buildings (whatever) … he or she has a relatively mature sketch design on which to work, and major elements of the design can still be modified, without cost implications, based on her or his Creative Solutions which positively support and aid – not hinder, weaken or dilute – the Project Team’s Design Intent.

The Sustainable Fire Engineer should always / must, therefore, have a minimum competence with regard to Building Design and Construction in order to effectively communicate and creatively collaborate in these Design Teams.

[ Recommendation:  Instead of looking down on, or discriminating against, Architects … they should be warmly welcomed into the International Community of Fire Engineering … where their particular expertise is badly needed.]

A blank sheet of paper, pencil in hand … or, if you prefer, an empty monitor screen, with mouse poised to move … and how to proceed … should it be this fire safety strategy (?) … or a different, more appropriate fire safety strategy (?)

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Sustainable Fire Engineering Design Objectives …

[ Reality – Reliability – Redundancy – Resilience ]

Achieve a Reliable Level of ‘Fire Safety for All’ ;

Facilitate Resilience: Protect Property & Assure Firefighter Safety ;

Minimize Environmental Impact & Mitigate Climate Disruption ;

Adapt to Climate Disruption ;

Nurture Sustainability ;

Incorporate Ease & Reasonable Cost of Post-Fire Reconstruction.

At this early stage in the Design Process … treat Conventional Fire Codes as an irrelevancy in the context of the above Design Objectives … question the adequacy of out-dated, simple prescriptive solutions … and forget about European and North American biases with regard to Passive and Active Fire Protection Measures.  Investigate new Sustainable Building Materials & Smart Technologies.  Incorporate Factors of Safety throughout the Fire Engineering Design Process.  Always remember Defence in Depth and Redundancy.  Prioritize Construction Reliability.

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Sustainable Design: Green Walls & Fire ?

‘Green Walls’ (also known as Planted Facades, Living Walls, Vertical Gardens, and Vertical Landscapes) is a general term which covers the architectural use of natural vegetation as a vertical element in buildings, both externally and/or internally ; intrinsically, each ‘Wall’ is different.  To be absolutely clear from a fire engineering viewpoint, there is no such thing as a ‘standard’ green wall which can be fire tested in a laboratory.  There are many benefits and advantages to these Walls … but, in future, they will play an important role in dealing with Climate Disruption, particularly the Urban Heat Island Effect in cities and large towns.

If properly installed and maintained … properly nourished and watered depending on local environmental conditions … Green Walls will not pose a fire hazard.  But those are a lot of ‘ifs’ !

Remembering Defence in Depth … the installed ‘sub-soil’ watering system for a Green Wall may be interrupted or break down, so a Smart Water Mist System will help with hydration of the vegetation, and cooling for building occupants/users, as Climate Disruption intensifies.  Some of the trees, shrubs or plants may wither and die, so a Water Sprinkler/Deluge (as appropriate) Fire Suppression System will deal with any accidental or intentional outbreaks of fire.

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Photograph, in colour, showing a street view at the rear of the Twin Tower, Multi-Storey Bosco Verticale Project in Milan, Italy.  In the view shown, ‘Green Wall’ covers a wide range, from a simple planted façade on the left to a vertical forest (Italian: bosco verticale) on the right.  With natural vegetation, similar types of ‘Wall’ can be very different.  Photograph by CJ Walsh 2023-06-07.  Click to enlarge.

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An Introduction to Green Walls … https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_wall

Explore the International Work of Patrick Blanc, French Botanist and Artist, at: https://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com … and his collaboration with Ar.Jean Nouvel on One Central Park, Sydney, a Tall Building Project completed in 2014 … https://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com/realisations/sydney/one-central-park-sydney

Also of Interest … 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design – Improving Health & Wellbeing in the Built Environment … https://www.terrapinbrightgreen.com/reports/14-patterns

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Colour Photograph showing the Twin Tower, Multi-Storey Bosco Verticale Project in Milan, Italy.  Designed by Ar.Stefano Boeri, it was completed in late 2014.  Early research based on an examination of the 900 trees (23 species) in the Project revealed that some adapted better to a challenging high-level environment than others, and trees on the upper floors were more stressed, requiring 20 percent more water.  Photograph by CJ Walsh 2023-06-07.  Click to enlarge.

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#SFE #SustainableFireEngineering #SustainableDesign #GreenWalls #ProjectSpecific #CreativeSolutions #SustainableFireEngineeringDesignObjectives #Architects #Reality #Reliability #Redundancy #Resilience #DefenceInDepth #FactorsOfSafety #ClimateDisruption #ClimateSynergies #ClimateTippingPoints #PlantedFacades #LivingWalls #VerticalGardens #VerticalLandscapes #BoscoVerticale #Milano #Italia #StefanoBoeri #JeanNouvel #Sydney #SustainableBuildingMaterials #SmartTechnologies #UrbanHeatIslandEffect #FireSafety4ALL #Firefighters #FFsafety #PropertyProtection #EthicalDesign #BeyondCodes #Sustainability #SIA #SustainabilityImpactAssessment #BiophilicDesign #SmartWaterMistSystem #WaterFireSuppressionSystem

Sustainable Buildings – An Immediate & Unprecedented Challenge Demanding Genuine Collaboration !

Posted by CJ Walsh

2023-09-26:  At the time of writing, the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly is taking place in New York City.  Midway through the U.N. Sustainable Development Framework Agenda 2015-2030 … News about its failing progress is very discouraging …

>  Amid growing geo-political crises and war, Multi-Lateralism has little chance to operate successfully and there is a growing stalemate within the Security Council ;

>  Extreme Weather Events (e.g. heatwaves, droughts, severe storms and rainfall, flooding) are becoming a regular occurrence across the Globe, and their impacts are already devastating ;

>  Only 15% of the Sustainable Development Goals are barely on track, while development gains in other SDG’s have reversed ;

>  Not only are Climate Disruption Targets not being met, but global greenhouse gas emissions are actually increasing.

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[ U.N. 2023 Sustainable Goals Report – Special Edition … https://sdgs.un.org/documents/sustainable-development-goals-report-2023-53220 ]

[ An Outside View: How much Progress is being Made on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals ? … https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/09/un-sustainable-development-goals-progress-report ]

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Earlier this month (September 2023), the #UN published a Report: United in Science 2023 – Sustainable Development Edition … https://library.wmo.int/idurl/4/68235

Compiled by the World Meteorological Organization (#WMO) under the direction of the U.N. Secretary-General, it brings together the latest updates from key U.N. Partner Organizations with a focus on weather-, climate-, and water-related sciences, research and services in support of realizing Sustainable Human & Social Development:

Climate Disruption …

  1. Total Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emissions from fossil fuels and land use change remained high in 2022 and the first half of 2023.  Fossil fuel CO2 emissions increased 1% globally in 2022 compared to 2021, and global average concentrations continued rising through 2022 and the first half of 2023.
  2. The years from 2015 to 2022 were the eight warmest on record, and the chance of at least one year exceeding the warmest year on record in the next five years is 98%.
  3. It is estimated that current mitigation policies will lead to global warming of around 2.8 °C over the course of this century compared to pre-industrial levels.  Immediate and unprecedented reductions in Greenhouse Gas Emissions are needed to achieve the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, i.e. 1.5 °C.

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Graphic Image, Figure 6 in colour, from the InterGovernmental Panel on Climate Change (#IPCC) 6th Assessment Report’s 2023 Summary for Policy-Makers.  It shows that there is a rapidly narrowing window of opportunity to realize climate resilient development, and how multiple interacting choices and actions can shift development pathways towards Sustainability.  Click to enlarge.

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Sustainable Cities & Communities …

  1. Cities are responsible for a high proportion of global GHG Emissions and are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate disruption and extreme weather events, which threaten the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 11.
  2. Integrated urban weather, climate, water and environmental services, grounded in best-available science and research, are helping Cities to achieve SDG 11.
  3. Observations, high-resolution forecasting models and multi-hazard early warning systems are the fundamental basis for integrated urban services.

Good Human Health & Social Wellbeing …

  1. Trans-Disciplinary Research is fundamental to analysing, monitoring and addressing climate-sensitive health risks and climate impacts on the health sector.
  2. Climate disruption and extreme events are projected to significantly increase ill-health and premature deaths, as well as population exposure to heatwaves and heat-related morbidity and mortality.
  3. Scaling up investments in climate-resilient and low-carbon health systems, and progress towards universal health coverage (#UHC) are critical for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 3.

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Graphic Image, Figure 1 in colour, from the recently published UN WMO Report: ‘United in Science 2023 – Sustainable Development Edition’.  It shows how genuinely collaborative weather-, climate-, and water-related sciences, research and services – together – support the achievement of the United Nations (#UN) Sustainable Development Goals (#SDG).  Click to enlarge.

[ The 2030 UN Sustainable Development Framework Agenda is Unequivocally Anchored in Human Rights … Leave No One Behind … https://www.ohchr.org/en/sdgs/about-2030-agenda-sustainable-development ]

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Deep & Genuine Construction Sector Collaboration …

[ Institutional Transformation ]

It is inevitable, therefore, that enormous pressures – social, economic, political, legal, and institutional – are being brought to bear on Building Design Professions, Engineers (all disciplines) and Construction Organizations to rapidly, reliably and creatively transform our existing Built Environment ; new buildings, which constitute just a small part of that workload, will be required to carry the heaviest burden.  To properly realize a Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Built Environment for ALL, however, Genuine Collaboration must be fostered … between each actor in the construction sector … between practitioners and scientists/researchers … and between different industrial sectors … silos broken apart and traditional barriers transcended.

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Sustainable Buildings – Reality vs. Superficial Impressions …

The minimum Life Cycle for a Sustainable Building is 100 years.

To be capable of later #Adaptation, a Sustainable Building must possess a sufficient/appropriate, level of #Redundancy.  Lean construction ignores this issue.

Far too many people appear to be still ‘wrestling’ with an obsolete understanding of #Sustainability.  It has many more than just 3 Aspects (social, environmental, economic).  Time for everyone to cop on and catch up !

[ Legal Aspects of Sustainable Human & Social Development: If the World is Serious about Sustainability, it must Embark on a New Era of Global Law … https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/11/global-governance-sustainability ]

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The International Fire Engineering Community, in particular, has a fixation with low-hanging fruit … ‘PV Panels’, ‘Timber Buildings’ … and ‘Performance-Based Fire Codes’, which are a hybrid of prescription (rather than Functional Fire Codes, which offer a more free, more open, and flexible option for designers).

So … before moving on in my next Post to look at the potential for Green Walls being a fire hazard, and comparing a top-down Sustainable Fire Engineering Design Approach with a bottom-up Conventional Fire Safety Approach … here is an interesting graphic image, developed by an architectural colleague in Berlin, Ar.Stefanie Blank, showing the difference between all-too-common superficial impressions and the reality of Sustainable Buildings …

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Graphic Image, in colour, which compares ‘What people think Sustainable Building is’ with ‘What Sustainable Building actually is’.  There is a world of difference between ‘reality’ and ‘superficial impressions’.  The immediate and unprecedented challenge is the poor performance of existing buildings.  Click to enlarge.

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Sustainable Fire Engineering Road Map …

An earlier Post … https://www.cjwalsh.ie/2022/12/sustainable-fire-engineering-road-map-to-a-safe-resilient-sustainable-built-environment-for-all … presents the complete Road Map for reading and/or download.

As I have written many times before, the concept of Sustainable Human & Social Development is intricate, open, and dynamic … and it is also continuously evolving.  So too, the #SFE #RoadMap must continuously evolve.

Fully reflecting the content and views expressed above, it is necessary to further expand the Sustainable Fire Engineering Design Objectives on Page 10 of the Road Map … in order to clearly and directly integrate the issue of Climate Disruption …

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Graphic Image, in colour, which lists SFE’s revised Project-Specific Fire Engineering Design Objectives … which cover the safety of building users and firefighters, protection of property and the environment, mitigation/adaptation to climate disruption, and finally, sustainability.  This revision is dated May 2023.  Click to enlarge.

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#Twitter (#X) … @sfe2016dublin …

#SustainableDevelopment #UNGA #SustainableDevelopmentGoals #SDG #ClimateDisruption #ExtremeWeatherEvents #GenuineCollaboration #ConstructionSector #SustainableBuildings #GHGemissions #UnitedInScience #SustainableCities #HumanHealth #SocialWellbeing #ArStefanieBlank #Berlin #NewYorkCity #PVpanels #TimberBuildings #BuiltEnvironment #PerformanceBasedCodes #FireCodes #FunctionalFireCodes #FireSafety #Resilience #Reality #Reliability #Redundancy #HumanEnvironment #InstitutionalEnvironment #Transformation #Creativity #BuildingDesign #FireEngineering #IPCC #FireEngineeringDesignObjectives #ClimateSynergies #ClimateTippingPoints

2023 Interesting New GeoPolitical Maps

Posted by CJ Walsh

2023-09-12 …

1.  Previously known as the International Community … before the #USA #NATO #UK #EU / #Ukraine / #Russia #ProxyWar … now known as the ‘West’, the ‘Hegemons’, the ‘War Mongers’, the ‘Ex-Colonial Powers’ (Footnote A), the ‘Slave Masters’, the ‘Climate Disruptors’ … and that tiny little speck in the Persian Gulf Region is #Israel (an Apartheid, Criminal State in blatant breach of so many United Nations Resolutions).

[ 2023-10-31: Right now, when unified and concerted global action on Climate Disruption is urgently required … this fracture in the ‘International Community’ is becoming more serious as a result of Israel’s Barbaric and Sadistic War Crimes in the Gaza Ghetto. ]

[ 2023-12-15: The #GlobalSouth, as well as general populations in the ‘West’, are witnessing irreparable damage being caused to the ‘Social and International Order’, referred to in Article 28 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (#UDHR), by the actions of Israel and its criminal accessories USA and UK. ]

[ 2024-02-22: Nada Tarbush Speech at U.N. Meeting of the Arms Trade Treaty, in Geneva | Western Support for Israel is Underpinned by #Racism … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDh1VBlhoSs ]

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Home Truths From Afar …

2015 University of Chicago Lecture by Prof. John J. Mearsheimer, Political Scientist & International Relations Scholar: The Causes & Consequences of the Ukraine Crisis … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrMiSQAGOS4&t=1034s

2023 Committee for the Republic ( www.committeefortherepublic.us ) Lecture by Prof. Mearsheimer: Where is the Ukraine War Going ? … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-rHBRwdql8

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Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits & 1936 Montreux Convention …

During this War in Ukraine, Türkiye has the right to block passage of Warships and Military-Aid Vessels.

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2.  Expansion of the BRICS Group of Emerging Economies … Brazil, Russia, India (Bhārat), China & South Africa …

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3.  Global Competition With China’s 2013 Belt & Road Initiative …

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4.  Europe After Brexit … a complex extrication process which has caused significant disruption to neighbouring countries … and considerable bad feeling among an even wider group of European Union Member States.

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5.  African Countries finally throwing off the Yoke of France (and Emperor Macron) … and telling both of them to take their Military Bases back home …

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On 16 September 2023 … Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso signed a security pact – Alliance of Sahel States – which binds the signatories to assist one another (including militarily) in the event of an attack on any one of them … https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/16/mali-niger-and-burkina-faso-establish-sahel-security-alliance

A few days later, still in September … France to Withdraw Ambassador & Troops from Niger … https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/24/france-to-withdraw-ambassador-and-troops-from-niger

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6.  Climate Disruption … Social Upheaval … Mass Migrations …

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[ Footnote A: Europe’s Colonial Past … ]

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#Twitter (#X) … @walshcj69 …

#InternationalCommunity #UN #RobustInternationalLaw #LastingPeace #HumanRights #West #Hegemons #WarMongers #ExColonialPowers #SlaveMasters #ClimateDisruptors #Türkiye #Mearsheimer #UkraineCrisis #UkraineWar #War #Apartheid #Israel #CriminalState #IndependentPalestine #GazaGhetto #BRICS #Brazil #India #Bhārat #China #SouthAfrica #Europe #Brexit #Africa #AfricanUnion #Mali #Niger #BurkinaFaso #France #EmperorMacron #MilitaryBases #Climate Disruption #SocialUpheaval #MassMigrations #MENA #Desertification #Refugees

Urgent Need For Harmonized European Fire Statistics & The ‘FIRESTAT’ White Elephant !

Posted by CJ Walsh

2023-08-21:  In an earlier Post here, dated 2022-12-19, I presented a Road Map for Sustainable Fire Engineering (#SFE) … which finished on an Urgent Call to Action targeting three specific, fundamental aspects of a Creative Fire Engineering which is capable of answering the challenges of our Complex Built Environment in the 21st Century … under severe threats from Global Climate Disruption, Climate Synergies leading to near-term Climate Tipping Points … and a startling lack of Global Resilience, refer to the CoVID-19 Pandemic, and Supply Chain Chaos initiated by an old-fashioned Cold War I Warrior in Washington’s White House.

      1. Mainstreaming a Transformed Fire Engineering
      2. Ethical Practice of Fire Research and Science
      3. Reliability of Fire Statistics …
Colour Image showing the #SFE Road Map’s Conclusion, Page 31 in a series of 36, from the updated (June 2022) Presentation on Sustainable Fire Engineering ~ its essential and critical role in realizing a Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Built Environment For ALL.  Click to enlarge.

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From Any Point Of View … the Final Report of ‘EU FIRESTAT’, a project financed by the European Parliament and commissioned by European Commission Directorate-General DG GROW, is a white elephant … a plodding hippopotamus … a retrograde step … a bitter disappointment !!!  Completed in July 2022, it comes nowhere near outlining a viable system for the development of urgently needed Harmonized European Fire Statistics … which must be managed and co-ordinated by #Eurostat, in Luxembourg.

The #FIRESTAT Objectives were extremely limited …

‘ The review proceeds from the assumption that fire incident data can serve a number of important purposes – helping to reduce fires and losses, identifying opportunities for safety interventions and education programs, guiding the allocation of public resources to areas of greatest need and impact, and monitoring progress of safety initiatives.’

Nowhere, in this Report, is there any reference to Sustainable Human and Social Development.  Where there are references to ‘sustainability’, these are specifically concerning the long-term financial resourcing of statistical systems.

And nowhere is there even the faintest understanding that Fire Engineering has an essential and critical role in the realization of a Safe, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment For ALL.  Fire Engineering Performance Indicators, Targets and Benchmarks must be developed to facilitate that realization ; and Reliable Fire Statistics are their starting point and basic ingredient.

[ The European Standards Organization (#CEN) has a Webpage dedicated to its part in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (#SDG’s) at … https://www.cencenelec.eu/european-standardization/sustainable-development-goals-sdgs/ ]

The Report’s Executive Summary (in English, French, and German) covers the limited range of the Project pretty well … and it is almost easy to read.  The ‘great and the good’ of Conventional Fire Engineering, both organizations and individuals, were involved in this Project …

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Colour Image showing the cover of the EU Project ‘FIRESTAT’ Final Report, completed in July 2022, with the full title of the Project: ‘EU FIRESTAT – Closing Data Gaps & Paving The Way For Pan-European Fire Safety Efforts’ in the middle of the Page ; the European Commission Logo at the top of the Page ; and against a background of an EU Flag in the lower half of the Page, the list of 9 International Fire Safety Organizations in the Consortium which carried out the Project.  Click to enlarge.

EU ‘FIRESTAT’ – Closing Data Gaps & Paving The Way For Pan-European Fire Safety Efforts

(Download PDF File, 128 Pages, 2.56 MB)

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The Final Report’s Boxed Recommendation 3, on Page 8, lists 8 Variables / Statistics to be collected as a Tier 1 / 1st Priority across Europe, from Ireland all the way down to Türkiye :

  •  Number of Fatalities ;
  •  Number of Injuries ;
  •  Age of Fatalities ;
  •  Primary Causal Factor ;
  •  Type of Building ;
  •  Incident Location ;
  •  Incident Date ;
  •  Incident Time.

So, for instance … the only Fire Statistic related to the Human Condition of Fatalities and Injured which would have been gathered after the 2017 Grenfell Tower Fire in #London was … Age of Fatalities … which, in the context of what actually happened on that tragic night and knowing the very large numbers of People with Activity Limitations (2001 WHO ICF) and other Vulnerable Building Users who died, or were injured, in the fire … is a very serious error, and entirely ridiculous !!??!!   FUBAR !!

Essential Variable / Statistic Correction: Age, Gender and Vulnerability of Victims (whether Fatality or Injured).  This is critical information and, whatever the resource implications, must be collected.

And if that wasn’t bad enough … this cack-handed approach to the development of Harmonized European Fire Statistics opens up the probability of another Morán with a computer, after a similar fire incident, again showing that a similar High-Rise Residential Tower could be evacuated down a single, narrow, badly designed staircase in 7 minutes.  Say no more !!!

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J’Accuse / I Accuse the International Fire Engineering Community of being intentionally and maliciously Deaf, Dumb and Blind to the desperate Fire Safety Needs of People with Activity Limitations, including People with Disabilities, and other Vulnerable Building Users !

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Concerning Incident Date … the Consortium appears to be completely unaware that the European Standard Short Format Date is … Year-Month-Day (YYYY-MM-DD) !!   See 4.2.2. in the Final Report.  Sloppy, Sloppy, Sloppy.

Generally concerning Tier 1 Statistics … where is there any serious consideration of the deep and substantial Green / Environmental / Climate Disruption Mitigation and Adaptation Measures being imposed on the Design and Operation of New and Existing Buildings … which are already causing serious fire safety problems ???   See many previous Posts on this Technical Blog.

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Colour Image showing #IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report Figure 5a: ‘Limiting warming to 1.5 C and 2 C involves rapid, deep and in most cases immediate greenhouse gas emission reductions’ … from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 6th Assessment Report.  Current emission reduction policies will result in global warming of approximately 3.2 C, which is far off target.  Click to enlarge.

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The Final Report’s Boxed Recommendation 3, on Pages 8 & 9, goes on to list 6 Extra Variables / Statistics to be collected as a Tier 2 / 2nd Priority across Europe, from Portugal all the way up to Finland :

  •  Number of Floors ;
  •  Area of Origin ;
  •  Heat Source ;
  •  Item First Ignited ;
  •  Articles Contributing to Fire Development ;
  •  Fire Safety Measures Present.

Concerning Fire Safety Measures Present … my patience is at an end !  I am heartily sick and tired of pointing out that there is no such thing as a ‘Fire Door’ ; it does not exist !!   It is ALWAYS a Fire Resisting Doorset !!!   See 4.4.3.

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This EU ‘FIRESTAT’ Report properly belongs to the Twilight Zone of the last Century … and in today’s Recycling Bin !

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And Even More Worrying …

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Concerted Resistance to answering the Fire Safety Needs of Vulnerable Building Users ;

The mistaken view that ‘Sustainability’ is merely a graft-on / optional extra to Conventional Fire Engineering ;

Constraining Building Fire Safety Performance within the boundaries of Current Fire Codes ;

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Is the EU ‘FIRESTAT’ Final Report another disturbing sign of the growing Trend towards #GREENWASHING in International Fire Engineering ?

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Properly Understanding China’s Uncompromising Assertiveness … Before It’s Too Late !

Posted by CJ Walsh

2023-06-28:  Sustainability is not an abstract concept, divorced from current geo-political realities.  Lasting Peace and Robust International Law are fundamental prerequisites for Sustainable Human and Social Development … a truth forgotten, and/or conveniently set aside, by all parties to the savage and immensely destructive #USA #NATO #EU / #Ukraine / #Russia #War.

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USA, 60 Years Ago …

In the tense atmosphere of the Cold War with Russia, and just after the Cuban Missile Crisis a few months earlier … a short extract – inspiring words – from President John F. Kennedy’s Commencement Address at the American University, Washington D.C., on 10 June 1963 …

[ Read and/or listen to #JFK’s Full Speech here: https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/american-university-19630610 ]

” …  I have, therefore, chosen this time and this place to discuss a topic on which ignorance too often abounds and the truth is too rarely perceived – yet it is the most important topic on earth: World Peace.

What kind of peace do I mean ?  What kind of peace do we seek ?  Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war.  Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave.  I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children – not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women – not merely peace in our time but peace for all time.

I speak of peace because of the new face of war.  Total war makes no sense in an age when great powers can maintain large and relatively invulnerable nuclear forces and refuse to surrender without resort to those forces.  It makes no sense in an age when a single nuclear weapon contains almost ten times the explosive force delivered by all the allied air forces in the Second World War.  It makes no sense in an age when the deadly poisons produced by a nuclear exchange would be carried by wind and water and soil and seed to the far corners of the globe and to generations yet unborn.

Today the expenditure of billions of dollars every year on weapons acquired for the purpose of making sure we never need to use them is essential to keeping the peace.  But surely the acquisition of such idle stockpiles – which can only destroy and never create – is not the only, much less the most efficient, means of assuring peace.

I speak of peace, therefore, as the necessary rational end of rational men.  I realize that the pursuit of peace is not as dramatic as the pursuit of war – and frequently the words of the pursuer fall on deaf ears.  But we have no more urgent task.  …”

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Fast Forward 60 Years To The Present …

The #GroupFeeling towards #China (#PRC) in the same Washington D.C. is an irrational and disturbing mixture of paranoia, panic, fear, jealousy, and war fever.  All too easily, other countries have been sucked into the Hegemonic Agenda of President Joe Biden – an old fashioned, mid-20th Century Cold War Warrior.  Pax Americana, USA #Exceptionalism, weaponisation of the #Dollar, widespread #Sanctioning (at this stage, who isn’t being sanctioned ?), illegal #Trade restrictions, and blatant #HumanRights hypocrisy (see the recent UN Report on the USA #Guantánamo Detention Facility in #Cuba) are all being quietly rejected by the Global ‘South’ and ‘East’.

But who today, in the ‘West’, understands China’s assertiveness … and why it must be uncompromising ?  The #USA’s ideologically-driven ignorance has led, in the past, to enormous blunders … Viet Nam, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, etc., etc.

On 25 November 2020, I was very pleased to give a Virtual Presentation to a private discussion group …

Colour Image showing the Title Page for CJ Walsh’s Presentation: ‘Resilient China After Century Of Humiliation’.  In the centre, an aerial view over the city of Wuhan.  Below, the Title Block for the presentation. At the top, a list of the countries responsible for China’s humiliation.  Click to enlarge this image.  Use the link below to download the Full Presentation of 10 Pages.

CJ Walsh Presentation (2020-11-25): ‘Resilient China After Century Of Humiliation’

Click to download Presentation, 10 Pages, PDF File 5.55 MB

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Using #Taiwan to bait China and ramp up military tensions can only end badly for the ‘West’.  China’s ‘Century of Humiliation’ is over … President Xi Jinping, and the Communist Party of China (#CPC) Central Committee, will certainly not allow that sad history to repeat itself.

The proposal by NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) to open an office – any type of office – in #Japan is not only ridiculous … it is preposterous.

China is not an enemy of the European Union (#EU) … Ursula von der Leyen (President of the European Commission) and Josep Borrell (High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy) would do well to remember that !

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[ Footnote 1: Use of Cluster Munitions in Armed Conflicts …

The Convention on Cluster Munitions (https://www.clusterconvention.org/) – adopted in Dublin on 30 May 2008, and became binding #InternationalLaw when it entered into force on 1 August 2010 – was born out of a collective determination to address the humanitarian consequences and unacceptable harm to civilians caused by cluster munitions.  States Parties to the Convention are committed to the full universalization of the #CCM and to promote its norms, as well as to fully implement it.  Its implementation contributes to advancing the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (#SDG’s) and the promotion of International #Peace and #Security, #HumanRights and International Humanitarian #Law.

Convention on Cluster Munitions  Article 1 – General Obligations & Scope of Application

1. Each State Party undertakes never under any circumstances to:

(a) Use cluster munitions ;

(b) Develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile, retain or transfer to anyone, directly or indirectly, cluster munitions ;

(c) Assist, encourage or induce anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Convention.

Question: If the vast majority of NATO Member Countries have ratified this Convention … why has the USA been permitted to supply these munitions to Ukraine ?? ]

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[ Footnote 2: Xi Jinping’s Visit to Ireland in February 2012 …

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#Twitter … @walshcj69 …

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Sustainable Fire Engineering – Road Map To A Safe, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment For ALL

Posted by CJ Walsh

2022-12-19:  Following on, directly, from the 2016 Dublin Code of Ethics …

[ A personal Code of Ethics – is / must be – the basis for Effective Sustainability Implementation ]

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Multi-Disciplinary Input  > Trans-Disciplinary Output

Sustainable Fire Engineering (SFE) is a Facilitator – no more than Architecture, Structural Engineering, or Spatial Planning – in the task of realizing a Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Built Environment for All.  However, SFE has an essential role to fill throughout the difficult journey towards that target.  In close collaboration with other design disciplines, many iterations … twists and turns along the road … will be necessary.

Beware Greenwashing !

Sustainability is NOT a graft-on, or an optional extra, to Conventional Fire Engineering.  This intricate, open, dynamic and continuously evolving Concept must cut right to the core of everyday design practice, and must positively impact all areas of that practice.

Ethical Transformation

In this third decade of the 21st Century … the Safety Objectives in current Fire Codes / Regulations are limited, inadequate, and lagging far behind today’s creative moulding and re-shaping of the Built Environment ;  they are almost, but not entirely, irrelevant in the context of the urgently required transformation of conventional fire engineering.  For anybody who cannot see the broad, beautiful landscape beyond codes and regulations … this SFE Road Map is definitely not for you.  For those who can see, your constant companion … your compass … will be a Personal Code of Ethics.

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Essential Considerations Before Starting Out On The Road …

1.  World Trade Centre Attacks in New York City, on 11 September 2001.  Two sets of important Recommendations were issued by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2005 and 2008.  Not only is the implementation of these still incomplete, but the solid progress which has been made e.g. on Firefighter Safety, is continuously under threat from vested interests.  Other jurisdictions have tended to ignore the Recommendations.  SFE takes full account of this Extreme Man-Made Event.

2.  Grenfell Tower Fire in London, on 14 June 2017.  Evidence at the Official Inquiry continues to shock and horrify ;  the entire fire safety regulatory edifice in England is dysfunctional, and it poses a real and serious danger to Public Health and Safety.  Inquiry Phase 1 Recommendations were issued in 2019.  Already, the Recommendation concerning Evacuation for Vulnerable Building Users & PEEP’s (#33.22 e and f) has been discarded by AHJ’s … and it has also been stated (#34.14) that as everything about the single narrow staircase in the Tower appeared to be OK, it will not be investigated in Inquiry Phase 2 … a sure sign of dysfunctional dysfunction !  SFE sees beyond these major flaws.

3.  Sustainable Buildings   Il Bosco Verticale Towers in Milano … this exciting Project, designed by Stefano Boeri and completed in October 2014, has become the International Icon for innovative / environment-friendly construction.  These new approaches to building design are posing enormous fire safety challenges.   [ Remember back … was it 15 years before fire codes were able to ‘solve’ the Atrium in buildings ? ]   SFE, however, must cope with this extraordinary level of architectural creativity ;  and Fire Engineering Practitioners must be capable of active participation, collaboratively, within Project Design/Construction Teams.

Looking past the Milan Project … it is important for the reader to experience a more rounded flavour of where the exciting synergy between Creative Design and the Inclusive Language of Sustainability is at present, and where it is tending to go …

UN HABITAT ~ World Cities Report 2022 ~ ‘Envisaging the Future of Cities’ … https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2022/06/wcr_2022.pdf

Ar. Vincent Callebaut, France … https://www.vincent.callebaut.org/

Ar. Stefano Boeri, Italy … https://www.stefanoboeriarchitetti.net/en/

Ar. Olando DeUrrutia, Spain … https://deurrutia.com/

4.  Building Energy Performance Rating Schemes   Under enormous environmental and political pressures, the headlong rush to conserve energy in buildings, and to make them more energy efficient … especially after the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine … is proceeding in blissful ignorance of fire safety and necessary independent technical controls.  Measurement of real building performance, after energy refurbishment has been completed, is generally avoided.

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The Road Ahead … From Gro Harlem Brundtland To Reliable Fire Statistics …

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Sustainable Fire Engineering Road Map

Realizing a Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Built Environment for All

(Download PDF File, 36 Overheads, 2.94 Mb)

This SFE Road Map takes account of feedback received after it was first presented on the LinkedIn Group … Sustainable Fire Engineering (#SFE) Network ~ #EthicalDesign #BeyondCodes #DefenceInDepth #SIA … from July to October 2022.  Further updated and revised in May 2023.

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