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Current Sustainable/Renewable Energy Reports
Published in: Current Sustainable/Renewable Energy Reports 3-4/2016

01-12-2016 | HOT TOPIC

Why and How the Sustainable Building Community Should Embrace Fire Safety

Authors: Bonnie C. Roberts, Michael E. Webber, Ofodike A. Ezekoye

Published in: Current Sustainable/Renewable Energy Reports | Issue 3-4/2016

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Abstract

Sustainable building construction is one of the fastest-growing industries in the USA. Changes in materials, products, designs, and methodologies are occurring to accommodate this green progression. While these changes have energy and environmental benefits, questions have been raised about impacts on fire safety. There are two major reasons to consider the nexus of fire safety and sustainable design. First is a concern for the environment and how a building fire would cause environmental harm. It is possible that a single fire event can negate several, if not all, elements of green design. Second is a concern that sustainable design features will cause unintended increased fire risk or hazards. Sustainable design is a relatively new market with some unconventional materials, techniques, and features that have not yet been proven with time, which introduces risk of unintentional consequences. Moving forward, it would be valuable to integrate green design with fire safety such that they reinforce rather than undermine each other. This article seeks to examine the relationship between fire safety and sustainability in buildings, discuss the status of the fire and sustainability communities, and recommend avenues for development and implementation to promote fire-safe sustainable designs. Such avenues include incorporating greywater and rainwater reuse systems with fire sprinklers, fire alerts and controls in building automation systems, better safety mechanisms and designs for on-site energy production and storage, and less combustible and more resilient structural elements and insulation.
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Glossary
ANSI
American National Standards Institute
ASHRAE
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers
BAS
Building automation system
BEES
Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability
BRANZ
Building Research Association of New Zealand
BRE
Building Research Establishment
CEDA
Comprehensive Environmental Data Archive
DESS
Distributed energy storage system
EIO-LCA
Economic Input–Output Life Cycle Assessment
EPA
Environmental Protection Agency
EPD
Environmental Product Declaration
FDS
Fire Dynamics Simulator
FR
Flame retardant
FTC
Federal Trade Commission
GFDI
Ground fault detector and interrupter
GHG
Greenhouse gas
HRRpeak
Peak heat release rate
HVAC
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning
IBC
International Building Code
ICC
International Code Council
IEQ
Indoor environmental quality
IgCC
International Green Construction Code
ISO
International Organization for Standardization
LCA
Life cycle assessment
LCI
Life cycle inventory
LEED
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
LEL
Lightweight engineered lumber
NAHB
National Association of Home Builders
NASFM
National Association of State Fire Marshals
NFIRS
National Fire Incident Reporting System
NFPA
National Fire Protection Association
NFSA
National Fire Sprinkler Association
NGBS
National Green Building Standard
NIBS
National Institute of Building Sciences
NIST
National Institute of Standards and Technology
NRC
National Research Council of Canada
NREL
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
PBD
Performance-based design
PV
Photovoltaic
SMV
Smokeview
UL
Underwriters Laboratories
USGBC
U.S. Green Building Council
WBDG
Whole Building Design Guide
WPI
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
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Metadata
Title
Why and How the Sustainable Building Community Should Embrace Fire Safety
Authors
Bonnie C. Roberts
Michael E. Webber
Ofodike A. Ezekoye
Publication date
01-12-2016
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Published in
Current Sustainable/Renewable Energy Reports / Issue 3-4/2016
Electronic ISSN: 2196-3010
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40518-016-0060-2

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