When the wooden facade catches fire Timber construction in the spotlight at the Braunschweig Fire Protection Days 2024
The demand for wooden buildings is growing. Even skyscrapers are now being built from this renewable material. But do these buildings also meet fire safety requirements? How does a fire develop in a wooden building with insulation made of sea grass or hemp? And what do firefighters need to consider when extinguishing a fire? These current issues of fire protection in timber construction, as well as the major fire at a chemical plant in Braunschweig, will be the focus of the 38th Braunschweig Fire Protection Days on 25 and 26 September.
“The Braunschweig Fire Protection Days are the meeting place for fire protection experts in the German-speaking area, where the transfer of knowledge from research to practice is of great importance,” says Professor Jochen Zehfuß, scientific conference chairman and head of the Fire Protection Department at the Institute for Building Materials, Solid Construction and Fire Protection (iBMB) at Technische Universität Braunschweig.
The Centre of Fire Safety Research (ZeBra) on the east campus of TU Braunschweig has created unique test facilities for studying fires in different materials and at different scales. For example, in ZeBra’s first large-scale experiment, the team worked with the Hamburg fire brigade to investigate how a fire develops in a multi-storey wooden facade in combination with combustible, renewable insulation materials, and how best to extinguish the fire. The results of the research project will be the focus of a presentation, as will the question of whether the spread of urban timber construction requires a paradigm shift in the work of the fire brigade.
Other topics include firefighting and the behaviour of cavity fires in wood panel construction, limiting visible solid wood surfaces and the safe design of green facades.
Major fire in an industrial plant in Braunschweig
The conference, which will once again be held at the MEC Millennium Event Centre in Braunschweig, will begin on 25 September with a keynote speech on ‘Major fire at an industrial plant – challenges and lessons learned’. Torge Malchau, Senior Fire Chief of the Braunschweig fire brigade, will report on the major fire with severe explosions at a chemical plant at Schöppenstedter Turm in Braunschweig in April this year.
The conference programme also includes new developments in plant-specific fire protection measures, current regulations, innovations in doors and gates, dealing with existing buildings, opportunities and obstacles in fire protection and recycling management using the example of drywall construction, as well as innovative fire protection solutions for the evacuation of churches and the conservation of resources.
Exhibition and symposium
Around 30 exhibitors from all over the German-speaking world will be showcasing the latest developments in products for structural, plant, preventive and organisational fire protection. The programme will be rounded off by an international symposium on 24 September, where national and international experts in the field of hot design and fire simulation will exchange ideas. Another highlight will be the presentation of the Fire Protection Young Talent Award, which is unique in Germany and honours outstanding student work.
About the Fire Protection Days
The Braunschweig Fire Protection Days are one of the most important fire protection conferences in the German-speaking world. Since 1987, around 600 fire protection engineers from building supervisory authorities, fire brigades, insurance companies, engineering offices, industry, testing laboratories and research institutes have met at the invitation of the Institute for Building Materials, Solid Construction and Fire Protection at Technische Universität Braunschweig to exchange information and ideas.
Further information: www.brandschutztage.info