built environment

Sorry Excuse For A Fire Evacuation Staircase In The Grenfell Tower – Supported By Shoddy ‘Expert’ Evidence !

2024-10-06:  After reading the  Grenfell Tower Inquiry  Phase 1 Recommendations (Chapter 33) … I was naturally curious about what would be happening during the next phase.  Paragraph 34.14 in Chapter 34, however, struck me as strange, even unbelievable … the single narrow #Stairs in the Tower would NOT be the subject of further investigation in Phase 2..

This is the Ridiculous Single Narrow Fire Evacuation Staircase in the High-Rise Residential Grenfell Tower …

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Although the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Recommendations (Chapter 113) concluded by looking back to Phase 1, and specifically mentioning Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (#PEEP) … nothing was said about the Fire Evacuation Staircase.  Case closed.  And there is only one word to describe this outcome: ‘FUBAR’ !

Struggling to understand that highly questionable decision … a deep dive into the Phase 1 ‘Expert’ Technical Evidence led me to this Page from Report BLAS0000019, dated 2018-10-24 …

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Three Important Documents Relevant To Competent Fire Evacuation Staircase Design :

  1. Orientation Manual for First Responders on the Evacuation of People with Disabilities, Document FA-235 / August 2002, published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (#FEMA) in the #USA.  Yes indeed, this document was published way back in 2002, and is still freely available on the Internet.

A vital piece of information with regard to the Firefighter’s Lift, and the serious harm which can be inflicted on People with Disabilities by its use …

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In the absence of an operable Lift/Elevator Fire Evacuation Assembly in a building … which is still usually the norm … this photograph provides vital information with regard to the Correct, Best and Least Hazardous Method of assisting the evacuation of a person using a Manual Wheelchair.  Electric wheelchairs are too heavy, and too awkward in shape, to be lifted down/up a Fire Evacuation Staircase, even with three sturdy individuals assisting.  Note that some elaborate, highly-adapted and very expensive manual wheelchairs cannot facilitate being lifted.  In all cases, however, Vulnerable People requiring Mobility Aids will be most reluctant to leave them behind in an emergency … and they MUST be allowed to keep their personal aid.

Click to enlarge.

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  1. Final Report on the Collapse of the World Trade Centre Towers 1 & 2 (on 2001-09-11), Document NIST NCSTAR 1 / September 2005, published by the National Institute of Standards & Technology (#NIST) in the USA.  Refer to Recommendation 17 on pages 215 and 216.

[ Contraflow Circulation, in a Fire Building:  Emergency access by firefighters or rescue teams into a building and towards a real fire, while building users are still moving away from the fire and evacuating the building. ]

Contraflow Circulation during a Fire Emergency is essential.  This facilitates rapid and safe movement of firefighters towards Fire Protected Lift/Elevator Lobbies and Areas of Rescue Assistance in order to check on the presence, or otherwise, of Vulnerable People who may be waiting for rescue.

Once Firefighters enter a Fire Building … and without provision for #Contraflow Circulation … the ordering of a ‘Stay Put’ Policy for building occupants is the only difficult option … but this is NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE.

Carefully examine the photograph below.  Firefighters wearing heavy protective clothing and also carrying firefighting equipment require far, far more circulation width than 510 mm !!   However, this staircase is still not wide enough to facilitate unhampered building user evacuation.  Notice how people have to twist sideways in order to allow firefighters to pass … and this inevitability slows down evacuation progress in the ‘real’ world.

Click to enlarge.

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  1. International Standard ISO 21542: Building Construction – Accessibility & Usability of the Built Environment, published in 2011 and revised in 2021.  Standardizes good design for accessibility and the safe usability of buildings, which has been common practice for many decades.

Basics Of Staircase Design … Going, Rise, and Height of Handrails … ON BOTH SIDES of every flight of stairs …

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Basics Of Staircase Design … Clear Unobstructed Width – Between 2 Continuous Handrails.  ALL Fire Services MUST adopt this single understanding of ‘clear unobstructed width’ of a staircase !

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Basics Of Staircase Design … Staircases pose a serious hazard, especially during the stressful process of Emergency Evacuation … HAZARD Tactile Walking Surface Indicators (stippled, for hazard) at the TOP and BOTTOM of every flight of stairs.  Concerning this particular design issue, British Standards and English Building Regulations MUST be ignored !

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Basics Of Staircase Design … Handrail Tactile Plates, essential for the evacuation information to be used by people with a visual impairment in an emergency.  Refer to Figure 38 in ISO 21542.  However, this is a much more informative photograph … from one of my previous visits to Japan.  Notice the high colour contrasting …

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Basics Of Fire Evacuation Staircase Design … The Clear Unobstructed Width of 1.50 metres between Continuous Handrails on a Fire Evacuation Staircase facilitates Contraflow Circulation, the Safe Assisted Evacuation of People in Manual Wheelchairs, and Stretcher Evacuation of Building User and/or Firefighter Victims during an emergency.

Click to enlarge.

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CONCLUSIONS

Having been directly involved in the drafting of national and international Accessibility Standards and Technical Guidance since the 1980’s … I am really, really annoyed by the inept and incompetent misuse of raw anthropometric data to try to justify the width of this sorry excuse for a Fire Evacuation Staircase in the Grenfell Tower … and inflicting the Firefighter’s Lift/Carry on People with Disabilities is NOT ACCEPTABLE.  This shoddy ‘expert’ evidence clearly demonstrates a profound ignorance of Building Design, and about how ‘real’ people use ‘real’ buildings.

My great fear is that the technical justification for this shambolic fire evacuation staircase will become a benchmark for similar shambolic staircases in other buildings … not just in England, but in other jurisdictions who are dim-witted enough to copy England’s bad example … whatever it does.

Professional building design, construction and technical control disciplines, who practice in England, MUST carefully read … and keep re-reading, as necessary … Paragraph 113.12 in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report … which is expressed in too mild a form for my liking …

Our investigations have shown that levels of competence in the construction industry are generally low and that by the time of the Grenfell Tower fire many contractors, designers and building control officers treated the Statutory Guidance as containing a definitive statement of the legal requirements.  It is understandable that those who turn to the Guidance for advice about how to comply with the Building Regulations should be tempted to treat it as if it were definitive … We therefore recommend that a revised version of the guidance contain a clear warning in each section that the legal requirements are contained in the Building Regulations and that compliance with the Guidance will not necessarily result in compliance with them.

I must go further … where the Technical Guidance in any of the English Approved Documents is known to be inadequate, or even suspect, it is the ethical duty and responsibility of a true professional to find a better way of complying with the relevant Functional Requirements in Building/Fire Regulations.

In addition, and specifically in relation to Building Fire Safety … it is necessary, at the same time, to comply with ALL of the relevant Functional Requirements in England’s Building Regulations … that means NOT ONLY WITH REQUIREMENT B … BUT ALSO WITH REQUIREMENTS A, K & M (for a start) !   The recent publication of a single document which merges ALL of the Approved Documents is a small step in the right direction of improving a deeply flawed body of building legislation.

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Competent Building Design / Ethical Building Design … Lies Beyond Codes !!

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END

#FireSafety4ALL #NobodyLeftBehind #NeverStayPut #VulnerablePeople #SustainableFireEngineering #SFE #GrenfellTowerFire #GrenfellTowerInquiry #ShoddyTechnicalEvidence #FireEvacuationStaircase #EthicalDesign #BeyondCodes #PeopleWithActivityLimitations #PwAL #WHO #ICF #PeopleWithDisabilities #PwD #Accessibility4ALL #InclusiveAccessibility #FUBAR

Inclusive Accessibility of The Built Environment & Successful Implementation In Japan

2024-09-14:  Inclusive Accessibility of the Built Environment – ‘Accessibility for All’ – is a dynamic, continuously evolving concept … the effective implementation of which is essential if we are to realize a Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Built Environment … for ALL, i.e. including everybody, every ‘Person’ in society … particularly ‘Vulnerable People’.

Whether it’s People with Activity Limitations (2001 WHO ICF), or #Refugees, or #Migrants … how does ‘Inclusion’ differ from ‘Integration’ ?

Graphic Image, in colour, showing the meaning of ‘social inclusion’… and differentiating that concept from ‘integration’, ‘segregation’, and ‘exclusion’.  Always grateful to Solidarité Lilloise Étudiante (So’Lille – France) for this very clever and informative image.  Click to enlarge.

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Vulnerable People :

Those people – in a community, society or culture – who are most at risk of being physically, psychologically or sociologically wounded, hurt, damaged, injured, or killed … and include, for example, people with disabilities, young children, people with health conditions, frail older people, women in late pregnancy, refugees, migrants, prisoners, the poor, and homeless.

People with Activity Limitations (2001 WHO ICF) :

Those people, of all ages, who are unable to perform, independently and without assistance, basic human activities or tasks – because of a health condition or physical / mental / cognitive / psychological impairment of a permanent or temporary nature.

Accessibility of a Building :

Encompasses the complete cycle of independent use of a building – in a dignified manner and on an equal basis with others – including the approach, entry and usability of the building and its facilities, services and information/communication systems, egress from the building during normal conditions and removal from its vicinity and, most importantly, evacuation during an emergency to a place of safety remote from the building and reached by way of an accessible route … by all of the building’s potential users, with an assurance of their health, safety, welfare and security during the course of those activities.

Successful Accessibility Implementation :  [ Principle 2 – 2015 Dublin Declaration on ‘Fire Safety for All’ in Buildings ]

Successful Accessibility Implementation … meaning high quality accessibility performance in the built environment … is reliant upon:

  • A robust Legal Base mandating accessibility for all and fire safety for all ;
  • Determined Political Will ;
  • Sufficient public Financial Resources ;
  • A compassionate and understanding Bureaucracy at all levels ;
  • Competence … meaning duly educated, trained and experienced in accessibility and fire safety design … spatial planners, architects, structural engineers, fire engineers, quantity surveyors, technical controllers, industrial designers, building managers, and people at all levels in construction organizations ;
  • Independent Monitoring of accessibility and fire safety performance ;
  • Innovative, well-designed accessibility and fire safety related Products and Systems which can be shown to be ‘fit for their intended use’.

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Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan :

Colour Photograph (1 of 7) showing an Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan.  Photograph by CJ Walsh.  2024-04-13.  Click to enlarge.
Colour Photograph (2 of 7) showing an Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan.  Photograph by CJ Walsh.  2024-04-13.  Click to enlarge.

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Colour Photograph (3 of 7) showing an Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan.  Photograph by CJ Walsh.  2024-04-13.  Click to enlarge.
Colour Photograph (4 of 7) showing an Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan. Photograph by CJ Walsh. 2024-04-13. Click to enlarge.
Colour Photograph (5 of 7) showing an Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan.  Photograph by CJ Walsh.  2024-04-13.  Click to enlarge.

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Colour Photograph (6 of 7) showing an Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan.  Photograph by CJ Walsh.  2024-04-13.  Click to enlarge.
Colour Photograph (7 of 7) showing an Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan.  Photograph by CJ Walsh.  2024-04-13.  Click to enlarge.

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Principle 9 – 2004 Rio Declaration on Sustainable Social Development, Disability & Ageing :

Concerted and properly resourced programmes of #Disability and #Age Related education and training should be provided in every U.N. Member State … at all levels … to politicians, educationalists, bureaucrats, administrators, and technical personnel connected, directly or indirectly, with the spatial planning, design, construction/de-construction, operation, management and maintenance of the Human Environment – in order to ensure that the implementation and monitoring of disability and age related Sustainable Social Policies, and the requirements of International Law, are competent and effective.

The #Dignity, #Privacy, #Autonomy and #Independence of every #Person should be respected.

Every U.N. Member State should adopt measures for the production and management of national disability and age related #Statistics – within an agreed and harmonized international framework – which are impartial, reliable, objective, scientifically independent, and accessible to the Public.

For #Survival and #Liberation, the priority targets for a comprehensive range of disability and age related sustainable social policies should be …

–  Residential Buildings ;

–  Public Transport … including buses, coaches, taxis, trams, trains, ferries, ships and planes ;

–  Educational Buildings ;

–  Places of Work.

Good #Education, within a context of Lifelong Learning for All, and Good #Employment are important keys to Social Inclusion.

For #Health and #SocialWellbeing, the priority targets for a comprehensive range of disability and age related sustainable social policies should be …

–  Health Facilities ;

–  Electronic, Information & Communication Technologies (#EICT’s) ;

–  Civic Buildings ;

–  Existing Buildings & Infrastructure … of Historical, Cultural or Architectural Importance.

In the short term, properly resourced programmes of work should be carried out and monitored in all U.N. Member States – in order to ensure that the Human Environment (social, built, institutional and virtual) is effectively Accessible for All.

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END – But More Examples To Follow !

#Inclusive Accessibility #Accessibility4ALL #VulnerablePeople #PwAL #2001whoICF #PwD #FrailOlderPeople #Buildings #BuiltEnvironment #SocialInclusion #RioDeclaration2004 #FireSafety4ALL #DublinDeclaration2015 #NobodyLeftBehind #EthicalDesign #UNmemberStates #InternationalLaw #Sustainability #SocialWellbeing4ALL

Shocking Uncontrolled e-Waste Generation & Disposal To Landfill !

2024-03-22:  The United Nation’s 4th Global e-Waste Monitor (#GEM) Report has revealed that the world’s generation of Electronic Waste is rising five times faster than documented e-Waste Recycling.

The 62 Million Tonnes of e-Waste generated in 2022 would fill 1.55 million 40-tonne trucks, roughly enough trucks to form a bumper-to-bumper chain encircling the equator.

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Colour Photograph showing various types of e-Waste … a typical scene at a Recycling Centre.  Not every Centre is properly managed.  And there are many parts of the world where there are no Centres at all, and e-Waste goes straight to landfill causing serious health and environmental problems for local communities.  Click to enlarge.

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Less than one quarter (22.3%) of the year’s e-Waste Mass was documented as having been properly collected and recycled in 2022, leaving over Euro €57 Billion worth of recoverable natural resources unaccounted for, and increasing pollution risks to local communities.  Worldwide, the annual generation of e-Waste is rising by 2.6 Million Tonnes annually, on track to reach 82 Million Tonnes by 2030, a further 33% increase from the 2022 figure.

E-waste, any discarded product with a plug or battery, is a health and environmental hazard, containing toxic additives or hazardous substances such as mercury, which can damage the human brain and co-ordination system.

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Colour Image showing the Title Page of the United Nation’s 4th Global e-Waste Monitor (GEM) Report.  Click to enlarge.

2024 UNITAR / ITU Global e-Waste Monitor (GEM) Report

[ Download PDF File, 15.06 MB ]

The Report foresees a drop in the documented collection and recycling rate from 22.3% in 2022 to 20% by 2030 due to the widening difference in recycling efforts relative to the staggering growth of e-Waste generation worldwide.  Challenges contributing to the widening gap include technological progress, higher consumption, limited repair options, shorter product life cycles, society’s growing ‘smartness’, design shortcomings, and inadequate e-Waste management infrastructure.

The Report also notes that the world ‘remains stunningly dependent’ on a few countries for rare earth elements, despite their unique properties crucial for future technologies, including renewable energy generation and e-Mobility.

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Colour Image showing the e-Waste Status of Africa in 2022.  Click to enlarge.

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31 Million Tonnes … Estimated weight of metals embedded in e-Waste in 2022, along with 17 Million Tonnes of plastics and 14 Million Tonnes of other materials (minerals, glass, composite materials, etc.)

17.6 Kg … Per Capita e-Waste generation in Europe, followed by Oceania (16.1 kg) and the Americas (14.1 kg)

5.1 Million Tonnes (8.2% of Global Total) … e-Waste shipped across borders in 2022, of which approximately 3.3 Million Tonnes (65%) was shipped from high-income to middle/low-income countries through uncontrolled, undocumented movements

NOTE:  Cross national border ‘exporting’ of e-Waste – ANY Waste – Is NOT Recycling !

33% (20.4 Million Tonnes) … Proportion of e-waste made up of small devices (e.g. toys, microwave ovens, vacuum cleaners, e-cigarettes), of which 12% are recycled

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END

#UN #UNITAR #ITU #eWaste #WEEE #PVpanels #SmartSociety #IoT #AI #SmartPhones #SmartTV #Recycling #RenewableEnergy #e-Mobility #EV #ElectricVehicles #Landfill #LithiumIonBatteries #ScarceNaturalResources #RareEarthMetals #HealthHazard #ClimateDisruption #Cobalt #HumanRights #EnvironmentalHarm #VirtualEnvironment #MilitaryEwaste #SpaceEwaste #Africa #Sustainability #SustainabilityImpactAssessment

Sustainability Impact Assessment (#SIA):  A continual evaluation and optimization process – informing initial decision-making, design, shaping activity / product / service realization, useful life, and termination or final disposal – of the interrelated positive and negative social, environmental, economic, institutional, political and legal impacts on balanced and equitable implementation of Sustainable Human & Social Development.

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Intentional Manipulation Of Human Behaviour Is Driving Climate Disruption, Migration & Ecological Overshoot

2024-03-01:  Too many strategic mistakes are being made, and too much uninformed ‘group-think’ is evident, in the – NOW – frantic human scramble to head off Climate Disruption … and attain Sustainable Human & Social Development … an intricate, open, dynamic and continuously evolving concept which is still not properly understood.

In a Split Human Personality which is clearly observed amid today’s geopolitical turmoil … much of one ‘personality’ is involved in this positive, yet arduous Ecological Rescue Attempt … while the other ‘personality’ stubbornly ignores the enormous negative impacts on that Task by:  (i) the #USA #UK #NATO Proxy War in #Ukraine ;  (ii) the ongoing Extermination of the Palestinian People & Culture in Illegally Occupied Territories by #Zionists intent on establishing a Greater Israel ;  and (iii) the growing Hostility of the Global South towards the #West caused by (i) and (ii), just when global unified and concerted action on climate disruption is urgently required.

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Uninformed Group-Think …

Sustainability Impact Assessment of Electric Vehicles

In June 2023, Rowan Atkinson (aka Mr.Bean … and surprise surprise, he has a degree in electrical and electronic engineering with a masters in control systems) wrote a serious Opinion Piece in England’s Guardian Newspaper/Website/Smart Phone App: I Love Electric Vehicles – and Was An Early Adopter.  But Increasingly I Feel Dupedhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jun/03/electric-vehicles-early-adopter-petrol-car-ev-environment-rowan-atkinson

Rowan’s well-reasoned conclusion … “Sadly, keeping your old petrol car may be better than buying an Electric Vehicle (#EV).  There are sound environmental reasons not to jump just yet.”

EV’s should properly be evaluated using Full Life Cycle Sustainability Impact Assessment … not just checking one, very beneficial but isolated, type of performance, i.e. zero exhaust emissions.

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Colour photograph showing a raging Electric Vehicle / Car Fire on a narrow road.  The car is turned upside down.  The photograph shows the scene after the initial Lithium-Ion Battery related explosion, and when the fire is being attended to by Fire Services.  In the far background, a large group of onlookers has gathered to view these strange events.  Click to enlarge.

Without even mentioning the #FireSafety Issues associated with Lithium-Ion Batteries in e-Cars (and e-Scooters, e-Bikes, e-Wheelchairs, etc.) … Rowan was / is correct … yet he was swamped with a ‘tonne of abuse’ for daring to voice an unfashionable opinion … to question the current majoritarian group-think on EV’s.

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Mining Cobalt for Lithium-Ion Batteries – Serious Rights Violations in DRC

Back in November 2017, Amnesty International (#AI) published a Report: TIME TO RECHARGE – Corporate Action and Inaction To Tackle Abuses In The Cobalt Supply Chainhttps://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr62/7395/2017/en/

The Report’s Executive Summary begins …

‘ Our world is increasingly powered by Lithium-Ion Batteries, ranging from the ones found in everyday mobile technologies, such as smartphones and laptop computers, to those in electric vehicles.  There is also a growing interest in using super-sized rechargeable batteries to help store electricity generated from solar and wind sources and deliver it to consumers more efficiently.  These technologies are attractive because of their perceived sustainability.  But as their use becomes more and more widespread, in what some are calling the ‘clean energy revolution’, it is necessary to ask whether the energy powering this revolution is as ‘clean’ as it is claimed to be.

Cobalt is an element critical for powering the clean energy revolution.  More than 50% of the world’s cobalt supply originates in the Democratic Republic of Congo (#DRC).’

The 2017 Report builds on an earlier report: ‘This is What We Die For’, first published by Amnesty International and #Afrewatch in 2016, which showed how #Cobalt mined by young children and adults – in very hazardous conditions and in serious violation of their Human Rights – entered the supply chains of many of the world’s biggest brands.  The new report assesses the policies and practices of 29 companies and how much their cobalt-sourcing practices have improved since then.

Did anybody really care that these Human Rights Violations were taking place in #Africa ?   NO.

Was the strength and pace of mushrooming world Lithium-Ion Battery production in any way affected by the 2017 AI Report ??   NO.

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Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA)

Important Policy and Decision Making Mistakes can be attributed to the lack of rigorous Sustainability Impact Assessment.  ( Environmental Impact Assessment ignores the other important aspects of Sustainable Development … and therefore is limited, inadequate, and out-of-date.)  Instead, #SIA should be deeply embedded in both processes as a matter of regular routine …

Sustainability Impact Assessment:  A continual evaluation and optimization process – informing initial decision-making, design, shaping activity / product / service realization, useful life, and termination or final disposal – of the interrelated positive and negative social, environmental, economic, institutional, political and legal impacts on balanced and equitable implementation of Sustainable Human & Social Development.

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Signs & Symptoms

Environmental Signs of Planet Breakdown include: Climate Disruption, Biodiversity Loss, Ocean Acidification, Coral Reef Destruction, Extreme Heatwaves and Droughts, Intense Wildfires, Polar Ice Cap Retreat and Collapse, Amazon Forest Dieback, etc., etc.

The example of Electric Vehicles above is a small indication that something more serious is wrong with Human Behaviour generally.  It is a Human Symptom … one which opens up the potential of exploring a different approach to solving the World’s Ecological Overshoot.

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2023 Ecology & Environmental Science Paper

World Scientists’ Warning: The Behavioural Crisis Driving Ecological Overshoot

[ Download PDF File, 595 Kb ]

This very interesting Paper points to the start, and elaborates a beginning – not the end – of an innovative Human Behaviour Research Path … with the practical aim of effectively heading off Climate Disruption and attaining Sustainable Human and Social Development.

Scientific Paper’s Abstract

Previously, Anthropogenic Ecological Overshoot has been identified as a fundamental cause of the myriad signs we see around the globe today from biodiversity loss and ocean acidification to the disturbing rise in novel entities and climate disruption.  In the present paper, we have examined this more deeply, and explore the human behavioural drivers of overshoot, providing evidence that overshoot is itself a symptom of a deeper, more subversive modern crisis of human behaviour.  We work to name and frame this crisis as the Human Behavioural Crisis and propose the crisis be recognised globally as a critical intervention point for tackling ecological overshoot.  We demonstrate how current interventions are largely physical, resource intensive, slow-moving and focused on addressing the signs of ecological overshoot (such as climate disruption) rather than the real cause (maladaptive behaviours).  We argue that even in the best-case scenarios, sign level interventions are unlikely to avoid catastrophe or achieve more than ephemeral progress.

We explore three Drivers of the Behavioural Crisis in depth:  (a) Economic Growth ;  (b) Marketing & Advertising ;  and (c) Pro-Natalism.  These three drivers directly impact the three Levers of Ecological Overshoot:  1.Over Consumption ;  2.Excessive Waste ;  and 3.Population Growth.  We demonstrate how the maladaptive behaviours of overshoot stemming from these three drivers have been catalysed and perpetuated by the intentional exploitation of previously adaptive human impulses.

In the final sections of this paper, we propose an Interdisciplinary Emergency Response to the behavioural crisis by, amongst other things, the shifting of social norms relating to reproduction, consumption and waste.  We seek to highlight a critical disconnect that is an ongoing societal gulf in communication between those that know, such as scientists working within limits to growth … and those members of the citizenry, largely influenced by social scientists and industry, that must act.

Paper Conclusion

In summary, the evidence indicates that Anthropogenic Ecological Overshoot stems from a crisis of maladaptive human behaviours.  While the behaviours generating overshoot were once adaptive for Homo Sapiens, they have been distorted and extended to the point where they now threaten the fabric of complex life on Earth.  Simply, we are trapped in a system built to encourage growth and appetites that will end us.

The current emphasis for overshoot intervention is Resource Intensive (e.g. the global transition to renewable energy), and Single Environmental Sign Focused.  Indeed, most mainstream attention and investment is directed towards mitigating and adapting to climate disruption.  Even if this narrow intervention is successful, it will not resolve the meta-crisis of ecological overshoot.  In fact, with many of the current resource-intensive interventions, it is likely to make matters worse.  Psychological interventions are likely to prove far less resource-intensive and more effective than physical ones.

  • We call for increased attention on the behavioural crisis as a critical intervention point for addressing overshoot and its myriad signs ;
  • We advocate increased interdisciplinary collaboration between the social and behavioural science theorists and practitioners, advised by scientists working on limits to growth and planetary boundaries ;
  • We call for additional research to develop a full understanding of the many dimensions of the behavioural crisis (including the overwhelming influence of power structures) and how we can best address it ;
  • We call for an emergency, concerted, multidisciplinary effort to target the populations and value levers most likely to produce rapid global adoption of new consumption, reproduction and waste norms congruent with the survival of complex life on Earth ;
  • We call for increased interdisciplinary work to be carried out in directing, understanding and policing widespread behaviour manipulation.

The Clock Is Ticking not only because the health of the natural systems upon which we are utterly dependent is deteriorating, but also because broad sweep interventions are only possible when a society holds together and is capable of coherent action.  As the effects of overshoot worsen, the likelihood of societal breakdown increases.  We still have an opportunity to be proactive and utilise the intact systems we have in place to deliver a framework for shifting social norms and other necessities for addressing the behavioural crisis.  However, the day may come when societal breakdown will make intervention impossible, locking the planet into an unguided recovery that may salvage much of Nature but be inhospitable to human life.

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Are We Trapped in a System built to encourage growth and appetites that will end us ?

OR … Are Humans a Virus intent on devouring the last of this Planet’s Limited Resources (as postulated by Agent Smith) ??

What do YOU think ?

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END

#ProxyWar #GazaGhetto #Genocide #IndependentPalestine #GreaterIsrael #GlobalSouth #GlobalNorth #FeuxDeForêt #SustainabilityImpactAssessment #ElectricVehicles #eCars #eScooters #eWheelchairs #ClimateDisruption #ClimateSynergies #ClimateTippingPoints #ExterminationOfPalestinians #RowanAtkinson #MrBean #LithiumIonBatteries #England #Migration #GuardianNewspaper #EnvironmentalSigns #HumanSymptoms #Anthropogenic #EcologicalOvershoot #HumanBehaviouralCrisis #InterdisciplinaryEmergencyResponse #ResourceIntensive #SingleEnvironmentalSignFocused #BiodiversityLoss #OceanAcidification #CoralReefDestruction #ExtremeHeatwaves #ExtremeDroughts #IntenseWildfires #PolarIceCapRetreat #AmazonForestDieback #Bushfires #IncendiBoschivi #IncendiosForestales #OrmanYangınları #IncêndiosFlorestais #AmnestyInternational #DriversOfBehaviouralCrisis #EconomicGrowth #Marketing #Advertising #ProNatalism #LeversOfEcologicalOvershoot #OverConsumption #ExcessiveWaste #PopulationGrowth #ClockIsTicking

Sustainable Fire Engineering Design & Process – Using No Way, As Way

2023-10-11:  Theory is one thing, but the practical working out and implementation of Sustainable Fire Engineering Design is something else …

The (Sustainable) Fire Engineer will already be an active, contributing member of a collaborative Project Design Team.  So, very early on in the Design Process for a Simple Building / Complex Building / Innovative Building / High-Rise Building / Tall Building or Group of Buildings (whatever) … he or she has a relatively mature sketch design on which to work, and major elements of the design can still be modified, without cost implications, based on her or his Creative Solutions which positively support and aid – not hinder, weaken or dilute – the Project Team’s Design Intent.

The Sustainable Fire Engineer should always / must, therefore, have a minimum competence with regard to Building Design and Construction in order to effectively communicate and creatively collaborate in these Design Teams.

[ Recommendation:  Instead of looking down on, or discriminating against, Architects … they should be warmly welcomed into the International Community of Fire Engineering … where their particular expertise is badly needed.]

A blank sheet of paper, pencil in hand … or, if you prefer, an empty monitor screen, with mouse poised to move … and how to proceed … should it be this fire safety strategy (?) … or a different, more appropriate fire safety strategy (?)

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Sustainable Fire Engineering Design Objectives …

[ Reality – Reliability – Redundancy – Resilience ]

Achieve a Reliable Level of ‘Fire Safety for All’ ;

Facilitate Resilience: Protect Property & Assure Firefighter Safety ;

Minimize Environmental Impact & Mitigate Climate Disruption ;

Adapt to Climate Disruption ;

Nurture Sustainability ;

Incorporate Ease & Reasonable Cost of Post-Fire Reconstruction.

At this early stage in the Design Process … treat Conventional Fire Codes as an irrelevancy in the context of the above Design Objectives … question the adequacy of out-dated, simple prescriptive solutions … and forget about European and North American biases with regard to Passive and Active Fire Protection Measures.  Investigate new Sustainable Building Materials & Smart Technologies.  Incorporate Factors of Safety throughout the Fire Engineering Design Process.  Always remember Defence in Depth and Redundancy.  Prioritize Construction Reliability.

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Sustainable Design: Green Walls & Fire ?

‘Green Walls’ (also known as Planted Facades, Living Walls, Vertical Gardens, and Vertical Landscapes) is a general term which covers the architectural use of natural vegetation as a vertical element in buildings, both externally and/or internally ; intrinsically, each ‘Wall’ is different.  To be absolutely clear from a fire engineering viewpoint, there is no such thing as a ‘standard’ green wall which can be fire tested in a laboratory.  There are many benefits and advantages to these Walls … but, in future, they will play an important role in dealing with Climate Disruption, particularly the Urban Heat Island Effect in cities and large towns.

If properly installed and maintained … properly nourished and watered depending on local environmental conditions … Green Walls will not pose a fire hazard.  But those are a lot of ‘ifs’ !

Remembering Defence in Depth … the installed ‘sub-soil’ watering system for a Green Wall may be interrupted or break down, so a Smart Water Mist System will help with hydration of the vegetation, and cooling for building occupants/users, as Climate Disruption intensifies.  Some of the trees, shrubs or plants may wither and die, so a Water Sprinkler/Deluge (as appropriate) Fire Suppression System will deal with any accidental or intentional outbreaks of fire.

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Photograph, in colour, showing a street view at the rear of the Twin Tower, Multi-Storey Bosco Verticale Project in Milan, Italy.  In the view shown, ‘Green Wall’ covers a wide range, from a simple planted façade on the left to a vertical forest (Italian: bosco verticale) on the right.  With natural vegetation, similar types of ‘Wall’ can be very different.  Photograph by CJ Walsh 2023-06-07.  Click to enlarge.

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An Introduction to Green Wallshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_wall

Explore the International Work of Patrick Blanc, French Botanist and Artist, at: https://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com … and his collaboration with Ar.Jean Nouvel on One Central Park, Sydney, a Tall Building Project completed in 2014 … https://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com/realisations/sydney/one-central-park-sydney

Also of Interest … 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design – Improving Health & Wellbeing in the Built Environmenthttps://www.terrapinbrightgreen.com/reports/14-patterns

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Colour Photograph showing the Twin Tower, Multi-Storey Bosco Verticale Project in Milan, Italy.  Designed by Ar.Stefano Boeri, it was completed in late 2014.  Early research based on an examination of the 900 trees (23 species) in the Project revealed that some adapted better to a challenging high-level environment than others, and trees on the upper floors were more stressed, requiring 20 percent more water.  Photograph by CJ Walsh 2023-06-07.  Click to enlarge.

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Sustainable Buildings – An Immediate & Unprecedented Challenge Demanding Genuine Collaboration !

2023-09-26:  At the time of writing, the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly is taking place in New York City.  Midway through the U.N. Sustainable Development Framework Agenda 2015-2030News about its failing progress is very discouraging

>  Amid growing geo-political crises and war, Multi-Lateralism has little chance to operate successfully and there is a growing stalemate within the Security Council ;

>  Extreme Weather Events (e.g. heatwaves, droughts, severe storms and rainfall, flooding) are becoming a regular occurrence across the Globe, and their impacts are already devastating ;

>  Only 15% of the Sustainable Development Goals are barely on track, while development gains in other SDG’s have reversed ;

>  Not only are Climate Disruption Targets not being met, but global greenhouse gas emissions are actually increasing.

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[ U.N. 2023 Sustainable Goals Report – Special Editionhttps://sdgs.un.org/documents/sustainable-development-goals-report-2023-53220 ]

[ An Outside View: How much Progress is being Made on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals ?https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/09/un-sustainable-development-goals-progress-report ]

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Earlier this month (September 2023), the #UN published a Report: United in Science 2023 – Sustainable Development Editionhttps://library.wmo.int/idurl/4/68235

Compiled by the World Meteorological Organization (#WMO) under the direction of the U.N. Secretary-General, it brings together the latest updates from key U.N. Partner Organizations with a focus on weather-, climate-, and water-related sciences, research and services in support of realizing Sustainable Human & Social Development:

Climate Disruption …

  1. Total Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emissions from fossil fuels and land use change remained high in 2022 and the first half of 2023.  Fossil fuel CO2 emissions increased 1% globally in 2022 compared to 2021, and global average concentrations continued rising through 2022 and the first half of 2023.
  2. The years from 2015 to 2022 were the eight warmest on record, and the chance of at least one year exceeding the warmest year on record in the next five years is 98%.
  3. It is estimated that current mitigation policies will lead to global warming of around 2.8 °C over the course of this century compared to pre-industrial levels.  Immediate and unprecedented reductions in Greenhouse Gas Emissions are needed to achieve the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, i.e. 1.5 °C.

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Graphic Image, Figure 6 in colour, from the InterGovernmental Panel on Climate Change (#IPCC) 6th Assessment Report’s 2023 Summary for Policy-Makers.  It shows that there is a rapidly narrowing window of opportunity to realize climate resilient development, and how multiple interacting choices and actions can shift development pathways towards Sustainability.  Click to enlarge.

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Sustainable Cities & Communities …

  1. Cities are responsible for a high proportion of global GHG Emissions and are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate disruption and extreme weather events, which threaten the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 11.
  2. Integrated urban weather, climate, water and environmental services, grounded in best-available science and research, are helping Cities to achieve SDG 11.
  3. Observations, high-resolution forecasting models and multi-hazard early warning systems are the fundamental basis for integrated urban services.

Good Human Health & Social Wellbeing …

  1. Trans-Disciplinary Research is fundamental to analysing, monitoring and addressing climate-sensitive health risks and climate impacts on the health sector.
  2. Climate disruption and extreme events are projected to significantly increase ill-health and premature deaths, as well as population exposure to heatwaves and heat-related morbidity and mortality.
  3. Scaling up investments in climate-resilient and low-carbon health systems, and progress towards universal health coverage (#UHC) are critical for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 3.

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Graphic Image, Figure 1 in colour, from the recently published UN WMO Report: ‘United in Science 2023 – Sustainable Development Edition’.  It shows how genuinely collaborative weather-, climate-, and water-related sciences, research and services – together – support the achievement of the United Nations (#UN) Sustainable Development Goals (#SDG).  Click to enlarge.

[ The 2030 UN Sustainable Development Framework Agenda is Unequivocally Anchored in Human RightsLeave No One Behindhttps://www.ohchr.org/en/sdgs/about-2030-agenda-sustainable-development ]

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Deep & Genuine Construction Sector Collaboration …

[ Institutional Transformation ]

It is inevitable, therefore, that enormous pressures – social, economic, political, legal, and institutional – are being brought to bear on Building Design Professions, Engineers (all disciplines) and Construction Organizations to rapidly, reliably and creatively transform our existing Built Environment ; new buildings, which constitute just a small part of that workload, will be required to carry the heaviest burden.  To properly realize a Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Built Environment for ALL, however, Genuine Collaboration must be fostered … between each actor in the construction sector … between practitioners and scientists/researchers … and between different industrial sectors … silos broken apart and traditional barriers transcended.

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Sustainable Buildings – Reality vs. Superficial Impressions …

The minimum Life Cycle for a Sustainable Building is 100 years.

To be capable of later #Adaptation, a Sustainable Building must possess a sufficient/appropriate, level of #Redundancy.  Lean construction ignores this issue.

Far too many people appear to be still ‘wrestling’ with an obsolete understanding of #Sustainability.  It has many more than just 3 Aspects (social, environmental, economic).  Time for everyone to cop on and catch up !

[ Legal Aspects of Sustainable Human & Social Development: If the World is Serious about Sustainability, it must Embark on a New Era of Global Lawhttps://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/11/global-governance-sustainability ]

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The International Fire Engineering Community, in particular, has a fixation with low-hanging fruit … ‘PV Panels’, ‘Timber Buildings’ … and ‘Performance-Based Fire Codes’, which are a hybrid of prescription (rather than Functional Fire Codes, which offer a more free, more open, and flexible option for designers).

So … before moving on in my next Post to look at the potential for Green Walls being a fire hazard, and comparing a top-down Sustainable Fire Engineering Design Approach with a bottom-up Conventional Fire Safety Approach … here is an interesting graphic image, developed by an architectural colleague in Berlin, Ar.Stefanie Blank, showing the difference between all-too-common superficial impressions and the reality of Sustainable Buildings …

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Graphic Image, in colour, which compares ‘What people think Sustainable Building is’ with ‘What Sustainable Building actually is’.  There is a world of difference between ‘reality’ and ‘superficial impressions’.  The immediate and unprecedented challenge is the poor performance of existing buildings.  Click to enlarge.

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Sustainable Fire Engineering Road Map …

An earlier Post … https://www.cjwalsh.ie/2022/12/sustainable-fire-engineering-road-map-to-a-safe-resilient-sustainable-built-environment-for-all … presents the complete Road Map for reading and/or download.

As I have written many times before, the concept of Sustainable Human & Social Development is intricate, open, and dynamic … and it is also continuously evolving.  So too, the #SFE #RoadMap must continuously evolve.

Fully reflecting the content and views expressed above, it is necessary to further expand the Sustainable Fire Engineering Design Objectives on Page 10 of the Road Map … in order to clearly and directly integrate the issue of Climate Disruption

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Graphic Image, in colour, which lists SFE’s revised Project-Specific Fire Engineering Design Objectives … which cover the safety of building users and firefighters, protection of property and the environment, mitigation/adaptation to climate disruption, and finally, sustainability.  This revision is dated May 2023.  Click to enlarge.

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Urgent Need For Harmonized European Fire Statistics & The ‘FIRESTAT’ White Elephant !

2023-08-21:  In an earlier Post here, dated 2022-12-19, I presented a Road Map for Sustainable Fire Engineering (#SFE) … which finished on an Urgent Call to Action targeting three specific, fundamental aspects of a Creative Fire Engineering which is capable of answering the challenges of our Complex Built Environment in the 21st Century … under severe threats from Global Climate Disruption, Climate Synergies leading to near-term Climate Tipping Points … and a startling lack of Global Resilience, refer to the CoVID-19 Pandemic, and Supply Chain Chaos initiated by an old-fashioned Cold War I Warrior in Washington’s White House.

      1. Mainstreaming a Transformed Fire Engineering
      2. Ethical Practice of Fire Research and Science
      3. Reliability of Fire Statistics …
Colour Image showing the #SFE Road Map’s Conclusion, Page 31 in a series of 36, from the updated (June 2022) Presentation on Sustainable Fire Engineering ~ its essential and critical role in realizing a Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Built Environment For ALL.  Click to enlarge.

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From Any Point Of View … the Final Report of ‘EU FIRESTAT’, a project financed by the European Parliament and commissioned by European Commission Directorate-General DG GROW, is a white elephant … a plodding hippopotamus … a retrograde step … a bitter disappointment !!!  Completed in July 2022, it comes nowhere near outlining a viable system for the development of urgently needed Harmonized European Fire Statistics … which must be managed and co-ordinated by #Eurostat, in Luxembourg.

The #FIRESTAT Objectives were extremely limited …

‘ The review proceeds from the assumption that fire incident data can serve a number of important purposes – helping to reduce fires and losses, identifying opportunities for safety interventions and education programs, guiding the allocation of public resources to areas of greatest need and impact, and monitoring progress of safety initiatives.’

Nowhere, in this Report, is there any reference to Sustainable Human and Social Development.  Where there are references to ‘sustainability’, these are specifically concerning the long-term financial resourcing of statistical systems.

And nowhere is there even the faintest understanding that Fire Engineering has an essential and critical role in the realization of a Safe, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment For ALLFire Engineering Performance Indicators, Targets and Benchmarks must be developed to facilitate that realization ; and Reliable Fire Statistics are their starting point and basic ingredient.

[ The European Standards Organization (#CEN) has a Webpage dedicated to its part in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (#SDG’s) at … https://www.cencenelec.eu/european-standardization/sustainable-development-goals-sdgs/ ]

The Report’s Executive Summary (in English, French, and German) covers the limited range of the Project pretty well … and it is almost easy to read.  The ‘great and the good’ of Conventional Fire Engineering, both organizations and individuals, were involved in this Project …

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Colour Image showing the cover of the EU Project ‘FIRESTAT’ Final Report, completed in July 2022, with the full title of the Project: ‘EU FIRESTAT – Closing Data Gaps & Paving The Way For Pan-European Fire Safety Efforts’ in the middle of the Page ; the European Commission Logo at the top of the Page ; and against a background of an EU Flag in the lower half of the Page, the list of 9 International Fire Safety Organizations in the Consortium which carried out the Project.  Click to enlarge.

EU ‘FIRESTAT’ – Closing Data Gaps & Paving The Way For Pan-European Fire Safety Efforts

(Download PDF File, 128 Pages, 2.56 MB)

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The Final Report’s Boxed Recommendation 3, on Page 8, lists 8 Variables / Statistics to be collected as a Tier 1 / 1st Priority across Europe, from Ireland all the way down to Türkiye :

  •  Number of Fatalities ;
  •  Number of Injuries ;
  •  Age of Fatalities ;
  •  Primary Causal Factor ;
  •  Type of Building ;
  •  Incident Location ;
  •  Incident Date ;
  •  Incident Time.

So, for instance … the only Fire Statistic related to the Human Condition of Fatalities and Injured which would have been gathered after the 2017 Grenfell Tower Fire in #London was … Age of Fatalities … which, in the context of what actually happened on that tragic night and knowing the very large numbers of People with Activity Limitations (2001 WHO ICF) and other Vulnerable Building Users who died, or were injured, in the fire … is a very serious error, and entirely ridiculous !!??!!   FUBAR !!

Essential Variable / Statistic Correction: Age, Gender and Vulnerability of Victims (whether Fatality or Injured).  This is critical information and, whatever the resource implications, must be collected.

And if that wasn’t bad enough … this cack-handed approach to the development of Harmonized European Fire Statistics opens up the probability of another Morán with a computer, after a similar fire incident, again showing that a similar High-Rise Residential Tower could be evacuated down a single, narrow, badly designed staircase in 7 minutes.  Say no more !!!

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J’Accuse / I Accuse the International Fire Engineering Community of being intentionally and maliciously Deaf, Dumb and Blind to the desperate Fire Safety Needs of People with Activity Limitations, including People with Disabilities, and other Vulnerable Building Users !

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Concerning Incident Date … the Consortium appears to be completely unaware that the European Standard Short Format Date is … Year-Month-Day (YYYY-MM-DD) !!   See 4.2.2. in the Final Report.  Sloppy, Sloppy, Sloppy.

Generally concerning Tier 1 Statistics … where is there any serious consideration of the deep and substantial Green / Environmental / Climate Disruption Mitigation and Adaptation Measures being imposed on the Design and Operation of New and Existing Buildings … which are already causing serious fire safety problems ???   See many previous Posts on this Technical Blog.

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Colour Image showing #IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report Figure 5a: ‘Limiting warming to 1.5 C and 2 C involves rapid, deep and in most cases immediate greenhouse gas emission reductions’ … from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 6th Assessment Report.  Current emission reduction policies will result in global warming of approximately 3.2 C, which is far off target.  Click to enlarge.

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The Final Report’s Boxed Recommendation 3, on Pages 8 & 9, goes on to list 6 Extra Variables / Statistics to be collected as a Tier 2 / 2nd Priority across Europe, from Portugal all the way up to Finland :

  •  Number of Floors ;
  •  Area of Origin ;
  •  Heat Source ;
  •  Item First Ignited ;
  •  Articles Contributing to Fire Development ;
  •  Fire Safety Measures Present.

Concerning Fire Safety Measures Present … my patience is at an end !  I am heartily sick and tired of pointing out that there is no such thing as a ‘Fire Door’ ; it does not exist !!   It is ALWAYS a Fire Resisting Doorset !!!   See 4.4.3.

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This EU ‘FIRESTAT’ Report properly belongs to the Twilight Zone of the last Century … and in today’s Recycling Bin !

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And Even More Worrying …

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Concerted Resistance to answering the Fire Safety Needs of Vulnerable Building Users ;

The mistaken view that ‘Sustainability’ is merely a graft-on / optional extra to Conventional Fire Engineering ;

Constraining Building Fire Safety Performance within the boundaries of Current Fire Codes ;

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Is the EU ‘FIRESTAT’ Final Report another disturbing sign of the growing Trend towards #GREENWASHING in International Fire Engineering ?

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Sustainable Fire Engineering – Road Map To A Safe, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment For ALL

2022-12-19:  Following on, directly, from the 2016 Dublin Code of Ethics

[ A personal Code of Ethics – is / must be – the basis for Effective Sustainability Implementation ]

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Multi-Disciplinary Input  > Trans-Disciplinary Output

Sustainable Fire Engineering (SFE) is a Facilitator – no more than Architecture, Structural Engineering, or Spatial Planning – in the task of realizing a Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Built Environment for All.  However, SFE has an essential role to fill throughout the difficult journey towards that target.  In close collaboration with other design disciplines, many iterations … twists and turns along the road … will be necessary.

Beware Greenwashing !

Sustainability is NOT a graft-on, or an optional extra, to Conventional Fire Engineering.  This intricate, open, dynamic and continuously evolving Concept must cut right to the core of everyday design practice, and must positively impact all areas of that practice.

Ethical Transformation

In this third decade of the 21st Century … the Safety Objectives in current Fire Codes / Regulations are limited, inadequate, and lagging far behind today’s creative moulding and re-shaping of the Built Environment ;  they are almost, but not entirely, irrelevant in the context of the urgently required transformation of conventional fire engineering.  For anybody who cannot see the broad, beautiful landscape beyond codes and regulations … this SFE Road Map is definitely not for you.  For those who can see, your constant companion … your compass … will be a Personal Code of Ethics.

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Essential Considerations Before Starting Out On The Road …

1.  World Trade Centre Attacks in New York City, on 11 September 2001.  Two sets of important Recommendations were issued by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2005 and 2008.  Not only is the implementation of these still incomplete, but the solid progress which has been made e.g. on Firefighter Safety, is continuously under threat from vested interests.  Other jurisdictions have tended to ignore the Recommendations.  SFE takes full account of this Extreme Man-Made Event.

2.  Grenfell Tower Fire in London, on 14 June 2017.  Evidence at the Official Inquiry continues to shock and horrify ;  the entire fire safety regulatory edifice in England is dysfunctional, and it poses a real and serious danger to Public Health and Safety.  Inquiry Phase 1 Recommendations were issued in 2019.  Already, the Recommendation concerning Evacuation for Vulnerable Building Users & PEEP’s (#33.22 e and f) has been discarded by AHJ’s … and it has also been stated (#34.14) that as everything about the single narrow staircase in the Tower appeared to be OK, it will not be investigated in Inquiry Phase 2 … a sure sign of dysfunctional dysfunction !  SFE sees beyond these major flaws.

3.  Sustainable Buildings   Il Bosco Verticale Towers in Milano … this exciting Project, designed by Stefano Boeri and completed in October 2014, has become the International Icon for innovative / environment-friendly construction.  These new approaches to building design are posing enormous fire safety challenges.   [ Remember back … was it 15 years before fire codes were able to ‘solve’ the Atrium in buildings ? ]   SFE, however, must cope with this extraordinary level of architectural creativity ;  and Fire Engineering Practitioners must be capable of active participation, collaboratively, within Project Design/Construction Teams.

Looking past the Milan Project … it is important for the reader to experience a more rounded flavour of where the exciting synergy between Creative Design and the Inclusive Language of Sustainability is at present, and where it is tending to go …

UN HABITAT ~ World Cities Report 2022 ~ ‘Envisaging the Future of Cities’ … https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2022/06/wcr_2022.pdf

Ar. Vincent Callebaut, France … https://www.vincent.callebaut.org/

Ar. Stefano Boeri, Italy … https://www.stefanoboeriarchitetti.net/en/

Ar. Olando DeUrrutia, Spain … https://deurrutia.com/

4.  Building Energy Performance Rating Schemes   Under enormous environmental and political pressures, the headlong rush to conserve energy in buildings, and to make them more energy efficient … especially after the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine … is proceeding in blissful ignorance of fire safety and necessary independent technical controls.  Measurement of real building performance, after energy refurbishment has been completed, is generally avoided.

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The Road Ahead … From Gro Harlem Brundtland To Reliable Fire Statistics …

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Sustainable Fire Engineering Road Map

Realizing a Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Built Environment for All

(Download PDF File, 36 Overheads, 2.94 Mb)

This SFE Road Map takes account of feedback received after it was first presented on the LinkedIn Group … Sustainable Fire Engineering (#SFE) Network ~ #EthicalDesign #BeyondCodes #DefenceInDepth #SIA … from July to October 2022.  Further updated and revised in May 2023.

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2016 Dublin Code of Ethics – Design, Engineering, Construction & Operation of a Safe, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment for ALL

2020-09-22:  Adopted at the International Fire Conference: SFE 2016 DUBLIN (www.sfe-fire.eu) …

Many years have passed since the 1972 UN Stockholm Declaration on the Human Environment and the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.  In 2016, Sustainable Development remains an intricate, open, dynamic and continually evolving concept.  The guide and driver for frontline practitioners, policy and decision makers must be a personal Code of Ethics … an integrated and inter-related whole which cannot be reduced to fixed rules inviting game playing and ‘trade-offs’.  After working with this Code, it may be necessary to expand on and discuss its principles and/or some of the issues raised … not to narrow its focus, but to broaden interpretation.

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2016 Dublin Code of Ethics – Design, Engineering, Construction & Operation of a Safe, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment for All   (Download PDF File, 91 Kb)

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CODE APPLICATION & PURPOSE

The realization of a Safe, Inclusive, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment demands a concerted, collaborative, very creative and widely trans-disciplinary effort at national, local, regional and international levels across the whole planet – Our Common Home.  The informed operation of appropriate legislation, administrative procedures, performance monitoring and targeting, and incentives/disincentives, at all of these levels, will facilitate initial progress towards this objective … but not the quantity, quality or speed of progress necessary.  Our time is running out !

This Code of Ethics applies … for those who subscribe to its values … to policy and decision makers, and the many different individuals and organizations directly and indirectly involved in the design, engineering, construction, and operation (management and maintenance) of a Safe, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment for ALL.

The Purpose of this Code of Ethics is to guide the work of competent individuals and organizations in a context where incomplete or inadequate legislation, administrative procedures and incentives/disincentives exist … but, more importantly, where they do not exist at all … and, amid much confusion and obfuscation of the terms, to ensure that implementation is authentically ‘sustainable’, and reliably ‘safe’ and ‘resilient’ for every person in the receiving community, society or culture … before it is too late !

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