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About the Project
In 2008, the Science Advisory Committee (SAC) of the National Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM) identified a gap between established fire safety practices and the rapidly emerging technologies employed in “green” building design and construction. Based on the SAC’s concerns, NASFM assigned a preliminary investigation to a student intern team from Worcester Polytechnic Institute to gather more detailed information. The student team worked in NASFM’s Washington, DC, office for seven weeks at the end of 2008, and provided a broad-based final report and presentation (PDF 1mb), that showed that there is, indeed, a significant safety gap between conventional fire prevention practices, building codes, and fire suppression techniques, and the evolving design and construction innovations introduced in the quest for more sustainable architecture. NASFM used this work to develop a program plan that resulted in a FY2008 grant from the Department of Homeland Security's Fire Prevention and Safety Grants Program to address this fire safety gap.
The program is well under way, with the objective being to develop tools to allow the sharing and dissemination of information on the fire safety of green buildings with fire officials, code authorities, and first responders. While the primary target audience is the fire service (emergency responders and code enforcement officials), every effort is being made to address all stakeholders. NASFM’s concern is that changing building techniques may change the traditional environment not only for first responders, but for code planning and enforcement officials as well. NASFM views its duty as making certain that fire safety is not compromised when building design, construction, and use patterns change to improve the environmental sustainability of architecture. To quote the student interns’ presentation, “Fire Safety Is Green!”. The focus of the program is the development of three primary resources:
- An interactive online forum/clearinghouse for sharing information on the various aspects of fire safety in green buildings;
- Guidelines for first responders facing unconventional building configurations; and
- Guidelines for municipal and local code enforcement officials faced with permitting and inspecting green buildings that may include unconventional features that challenge the permitting process and require the consideration of significantly different designs.
We believe that education and the establishment of mechanisms to facilitate the sharing of information across the country is the most effective way to assure the fire safety of green buildings as the technologies involved are being developed and implemented. A critical early step in the program was establishing an Advisory Working Group (AWG) to help NASFM keep the work technically sound as this project develops. Members of the AWG were invited from a wide range of organizations that represent or have some involvement in the broad area of fire safety of green buildings. The AWG held its first meeting on December 16, 2009, in the International Code Council offices in Washington, DC.
Ongoing, NASFM is building a website-based interactive forum for sharing information as well as for users to share experiences and solicit information from states, municipalities, and other jurisdictions across the country. In addition to internet-based information tools, NASFM is developing guidelines to serve as educational components of training and reference materials for first responders as well as for local code authorities. The thought is that responders or authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs) who seek information on the fire safety of green building designs should be able to find out how to approach the topic, what the major issues are, and what is going on in other parts of the country.
While NASFM is looking to the AWG for guidance and advice, we hope that others will help us develop the content of the project by offering suggestions and leads for topics to follow up on, and if possible, serve as a resource to us as we work through this grant.
Firehouse.com ~ Fire Marshal's Corner: Arson Concerns and Green Construction
On Fire Marshal's Corner this month Ed Comeau and Mike Love chat with NASFM President and Georgia State Fire Marshal Alan Shuman and NASFM Project Manager Karen Deppa in a podcast discussion of our new site, "Fire Safety and Green Building - Bridging the Gap."
National Association of State Fire Marshals Statement in Recognition of Earth Day
April 22, 2010
It has been forty years since the first Earth Day, and we have made incredible strides in protecting the planet, but we are also presented with perils that were never envisioned in 1970. However, by working together and addressing different parts of the problem, we can make the world a better place for future generations.
One part of protecting people and the environment is making sure that we are living, working and playing in safe, yet sustainable, buildings. Fires are a danger that we face every day, and the impact of a fire in a structure affects not only people but also the environment in terms of air pollution, unrecyclable debris, polluted water runoff and tremendous use of resources, including tens of thousands of gallons of water from fire hoses to suppress a fire. When fires are prevented from igniting in the first place – or when automatic fire sprinklers can be used to put out fires while they are small – it becomes clear that fire safety is truly a "green" concept!
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