The funding of new research has been announced by the SFPE Foundation to help prepare the industry for the future development of risk-informed performance-based tools for the assessment of sustainable and fire-resilient buildings.
Brian J. Meacham, PhD, PE, CEng, FIFireE, FSFPE, Managing Principal at Meacham Associates
The SFPE Foundation, a charitable organization focused on enhancing the scientific understanding of fire and its interaction with the natural and built environment, has announced the funding of the research award.
The research will ultimately aim to provide designers and practitioners with tools to identify and mitigate the fire risk in green buildings.
The research will be led by Brian J. Meacham, PhD, PE, CEng, FIFireE, FSFPE, Managing Principal at Meacham Associates, with support from Håkan Frantzich, PhD, FSFPE, Associate Professor, and Margaret McNamee, PhD, Professor, both with the Division of Fire Safety Engineering at Lund University. Meacham was also a speaker at this year’s Tall Building Fire Safety Conference at FIREX International in May, where he highlighted the underlying challenges in combatting the global fire threat.
The research will involve characterising the problem, researching and identifying appropriate assessment methods, identifying necessary attributes and requirements for input data, and developing a framework to underpin a risk-informed performance-based assessment methodology.
Additional review will focus on consideration of how green attributes and risk factors impact risk assessment, uncertainty treatment, and decision-support methodologies in sustainable and fire resilient buildings. Findings of the study are expected to be published and presented through SFPE and the SFPE Foundation in 2023.
“To aid in the assessment of sustainable and fire-resilient buildings, the SFPE Foundation’s Board of Governors is pleased to provide funding for another major new research investment in 2022,” stated Leslie Marshall, Ph.D., Director, SFPE Foundation. “This project aligns with SFPE Research Roadmap priorities and is a foundational step to ultimately provide designers and practitioners with performance-based tools to identify and mitigate fire risk in green buildings.”
Established in 1979, the SFPE Foundation is an organisation focused on enhancing the scientific understanding of fire and its interaction with the natural and built environment.
Financing for SFPE Foundation-funded research is provided through the support of donors, including SFPE, SFPE chapters, SFPE members, governmental agencies, leading companies and organisations, and others. The SFPE Foundation periodically invites research proposals through both open calls and specific requests for proposals.
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