The annual Fire Sprinkler International (FSI) conference returns to London next week, with a focus on water-based fire suppression and aiming to bring together professionals whose roles encompass the protection of life and property from fire. It will take place over Tuesday 31 May and Wednesday 1 June.
The conference programme, devised by Europe’s two largest professional sprinkler organisations – EFSN & BAFSA – will feature over 50 presentations across the two days covering developments from the global water-based fire suppression industry.
Alongside the conference is a two-day exhibition dedicated to the best the sprinkler and water mist industries have to offer.
It is now approaching five years since the Grenfell Tower disaster but the fallout continues. One reaction has been to see residential sprinklers systems much more widely applied in the UK. FSI 2022 participants will hear how the London policy on sprinklers restricts funding for social housing to apartment buildings protected with sprinklers.
Grenfell was partly made of combustible materials and Daniel Joyeux of Efectis will present French guidance on how to protect wooden residential buildings, sprinklers being part of the solution. Shayne Parker of Domestic Sprinklers will review lessons learned from the many high-rise retrofits he has conducted, while William Makant of Plumis will discuss how prescriptive approaches in standards can inhibit the take-up of innovative concepts. Ruud van Herpen of Eindhoven University will explain why a stay-in-place fire safety design for residential buildings is only reasonable if it is protected with sprinklers.
Over the past two years online commerce has advanced, leading to explosive growth in the logistics industry. Companies that build and operate warehouses are innovating to make their warehouses more efficient, with increased height and greater storage density. This is a fire protection challenge and has drawn the storage, sprinkler and insurance industries closer together to address it.
In the first plenary session, Stuart Lloyd of Zurich Insurance will explain the challenge. In a workshop Johannes Zimmermann of SSI-Schäfer will next present a protection solution for his company’s shuttle systems, while Ingunn Haraldseid of Autostore will present the latest fire tests of a protection concept for her company’s system and Steve Wolin of Reliable will present the latest guidance from FM Global. Later, Wes Baker of FM Global will discuss when ESFR designs can be based on just nine sprinklers.
International experts will also look ahead to the future, where fire safety regulators will discuss trends and challenges in the use of sprinkler systems from a global perspective. Paul Sincaglia and Russ Fleming of the International Fire Suppression Alliance will then review the state of the global industry and their research into what works when it comes to developing sprinkler markets.
On the second morning, Amanda Kimbal of the Fire Protection Research Foundation, will give an update on its suppression research, while in the final session Ben Ditch of FM Global will present his company’s latest research learning.
The conference will close with another panel session, this time with senior leaders of the sprinkler industry who have a global view fed with much local detail. Volker Bechtloff of Minimax, Laurens Swennenhuis of Johnson Controls and Paul Sincaglia will discuss with Alan Brinson what is on the horizon and how they see the industry and technology developing.
The conference will take place over Tuesday 31 May and Wednesday 1 June at London’s Park Plaza Riverbank. Two-day delegate passes, including a welcome reception on the evening of 31st May are £700 for EFSN and BAFSA. It is £800 for non-members.
Register for the conference here FSI2022 Registration – Fire Sprinkler International
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