Fire Engineering Design Objectives

SFE 2016 DUBLIN – A Benchmark Fire Engineering Event !

Posted by CJ Walsh

2015-11-06 !   We are very pleased to announce that the Fire Safe Europe Alliance … www.firesafeeurope.eu … has become actively involved, together with Glasgow Caledonian University and FireOx International, in co-hosting SFE 2016 DUBLIN.  To facilitate the Network’s full engagement and provide sufficient time for promotion, etc … it was jointly agreed that the new dates for this Event shall be from 28-30 September 2016.

We have every confidence that SFE 2016 DUBLIN will now be a much better event … having a wider range of stakeholder participation.

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2015-06-29 …

Sustainable Fire Engineering – Effective Fire Safety for All in Sustainable Buildings !
28-30 September 2016      Dublin, Ireland
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www.sustainable-firengineering.ie  or  www.sfe-fire.eu
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Approved Regional Sustainable Built Environment Conference in the 2016-17 Series
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The Gresham Hotel, O’Connell Street, Dublin, Ireland

Céad Míle Fáilte (Hundred Thousand Welcomes) to Dublin, in Ireland … and to the First International Conference devoted to this complex subject !

The 21st Century has had a cruel and savage birth: extreme man-made events, hybrid disasters, severe natural events, complex humanitarian emergencies, with accelerating climate change and variability.  The old certainties are crumbling before our eyes …

The resolute Answer to these threats and the rapidly changing social and environmental needs of our world is Sustainable Fire Engineering !

•  SFE fulfils a critical role in the realization of a Safe, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment for All ;
•  SFE facilitates positive progress towards the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals & 169 Performance Targets, which were adopted in September 2015 ;
•  SFE fast-tracks proper compliance with the Basic Requirements for Construction Works in the European Union’s Construction Products Regulation 305/2011 (Annex I), specifically the interlinked Requirements 7, 2, 1, 3 & 4.

Please join us in an informal, multidisciplinary and pre-normative forum … as we examine Sustainable Fire Engineering more deeply.Event Logo for SFE 2016 DUBLIN

INTRODUCTION to SFE 2016 DUBLIN

Fire Losses – both direct and indirect – amount to a very significant percentage of GDP in all economies, whether they are rich or poor … and result in enormous environmental damage and social disruption.  Fire Engineering, including Fire Prevention and Protection in Buildings, is a major multi-billion Euro/Dollar component of the Construction Industrial Sector – worldwide.

Unfortunately … a fundamental conflict exists between Sustainable Building Design Strategies and the fire safety responses adopted in today’s Conventional Fire Engineering.  To take a simple example: for cooling, heating or ventilation purposes in a Sustainable Building, it is necessary to take advantage of natural unobstructed patterns of air movement in that building.  On the other hand, fire engineers in private practice and control personnel in Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ’s) will demand that building spaces be tightly compartmented in order to limit the spread of fire and smoke … dramatically interfering with those natural patterns of air movement.

Unusual fire behaviour and a range of difficult fire safety issues (critical, in the case of firefighters) also arise from the Innovative Design Features (for example, ‘green’ roofs, elaborate intelligent façades) and Building Products / Systems (for example, photovoltaic panels) being installed in Sustainable Buildings.

A wide chasm separates the language and understanding of these two very different design disciplines.  As a result, the performance of Sustainable Buildings can be seriously compromised.  If, on the other hand, adequate independent technical control is absent on site … it is fire safety which is weakened.

And because, in most countries, the emphasis is placed on pre-construction design intent rather than the ‘real’ performance of the completed/occupied building … these problems are ignored and remain hidden … until a serious fire breaks out !

SUSTAINABLE FIRE ENGINEERING’s AIM

The Aim of Sustainable Fire Engineering is to dramatically reduce all direct and indirect fire losses in the Human Environment (including social, built, economic, environmental, virtual, and institutional) … and to protect the Natural Environment.

Towards Zero Preventable Fires in the Built Environment !

In essence … Sustainable Fire Engineering heavily front-loads Fire Prevention and Fire Protection Measures … above and beyond the minimal and very limited fire safety objectives mandated by current legislation.

SFE’s Key Concepts are … Reality – Reliability – Redundancy – Resilience !

SFE Design Solutions are …

  • Adapted to local geography, climate change and variability, social need, economy, and culture ;
  • Reliability-based ;
  • Person-centred ;
  • Resilient.

SFE 2016 DUBLIN OBJECTIVES

1.  To initiate discussion and foster mutual understanding between the International Sustainable Development / Climate Change / Urban Resilience Communities and the International Fire Science & Engineering Community.
2.  To bring together today’s disparate Sectors within the International Fire Science and Engineering Community … to encourage better communication between each and trans-disciplinary collaboration between all.
3.  To transform Conventional Fire Engineering into an ethical and fully professional Sustainable Design Discipline which is fit for purpose in the 21st Century … meaning … that fire engineers can participate actively in a sustainable design process, and can respond creatively with sustainable fire engineering design solutions which result in Effective Fire Safety for All in Sustainable Buildings.
4.  To launch a CIB W14 Research Working Group VI Reflection Document: ‘Sustainable Fire Engineering Design & Construction’ … which will establish a framework for discussion on the future development of Sustainable Fire Engineering.

SFE 2016 DUBLIN WEBSITE

Today !   Visit the SFE 2016 DUBLIN Website at … www.sustainable-firengineering.ie  or  www.sfe-fire.eu

Download the Information on the Links Page … Review the wide range of Topics which will be examined and discussed at SFE 2016 DUBLIN … Submit an Abstract for a Paper … and Give serious consideration to becoming an Industry Exhibitor, or an Enlightened, Far-sighted Sponsor !!

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Sustainable Fire Engineering & Fires in Buildings ?

Posted by CJ Walsh

2009-07-11:   Practical Implementation of Sustainable Human & Social Development … transforming our Human Environment by gradually improving and monitoring ‘Real’ Sustainability Performance … depends entirely on directly applying a Multi-Aspect Understanding of ‘Sustainability’, in a manner which is both balanced and equitable, to all of the many different facets of Sustainable Design.

Therefore … responding ethically and professionally, in built and/or wrought (worked) form, to the still evolving concept of Sustainable Human & Social Development …

        … the specific aim of Sustainable Fire Engineering shall be to design for Maximum Credible Fire & User Scenarios … in order to maintain a proper and satisfactory level of fire safety and protection over the full life cycle of a building.

[Sustainable Fire Engineering can be applied, equally, to other elements of the Built Environment, e.g. means of transport on land or sea.]

As discussed in a previous post … the Minimum Life Cycle of a Sustainable Building is 100 Years.  AND, to prolong Building Life Cycle and maximize Building Usability … such a building must be Flexible and Adaptable with regard to internal layout, Accessible for People with Activity Limitations (2001 WHO ICF) … and Structurally Robust.

 

Maximum Credible Fire Scenario:

A sequence of events during a ‘real’ fire incident in a building – related to design, construction, occupancy, fire loads, ignition sources, spatial geometry, fire protection measures (both passive and active) … and an adverse, but reasonable to anticipate, operation and management status – which culminates in fire conditions which are severe, but reasonable to anticipate over a complete building life cycle.

 

Maximum Credible User Scenario:

Indicates building user conditions which are also severe but reasonable to anticipate over a complete building life cycle, i.e. …

  • the Number of People Using a Building increases, on occasions which cannot be specified, to 120% of Calculated Maximum Building Capacity ;

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  • 10% of People Using the Building (occupants, visitors & other users) have an Impairment (visual or hearing, physical function, psychological, mental or cognitive … with some impairments not being identifiable, e.g. anosognosia).

 

Sustainable Fire Engineering Strategy:

A coherent and purposeful arrangement of fire protection and fire prevention measures which is developed in order to meet specified Sustainable Fire Engineering Design Objectives.

In designing a building for conditions of fire, and its aftermath, project-specific Sustainable Fire Engineering Design Objectives typically cover the following spectrum of concerns …

  • Protection of the Health and Safety of All Building Users … including people with activity limitations, visitors to the building who may be unfamiliar with its layout, and contractors or product/service suppliers temporarily engaged in work or business transactions on the premises ;
  • Protection of Property … including the building, its contents, and adjoining or adjacent properties, from loss or damage ;
  • Protection of the Health and Safety of Firefighters, Rescue Teams and other First Response Personnel ;
  • Protection of the Natural Environment from Harm, i.e. adverse impacts ;
  • Facility, Ease and Cost of carrying out Effective Repair, Refurbishment and Reconstruction Works after the Fire ;
  • Sustainability of the Human Environment (Social, Built, Virtual, Economic … ).

 

Human Health:

A state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.   (World Health Organization)

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