EU Green Week – Webinar: Sustainability and Fire Safety: What’s the link?

As one of the biggest contributors to CO2 emissions, the construction sector has a responsibility to actively contribute to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reach climate neutrality by 2050. A more sustainable construction sector also means that future buildings should be more resilient to man-made disasters such as fire.

Sustainability of buildings is typically rated based on measuring carbon footprint from their entire lifecycle. However, a disruptive event like a fire is not included in those calculations. Furthermore, the effects of a fire go beyond the immediate building and content, the victims, and emergency response personnel. Fire adds pollutants to the air, contaminates surrounding soil and water systems, and impacts the health of citizens. It is, therefore, unfortunate that, when looking at sustainability concepts and policy measures, there is no clear link to fire safety.

As official partner of the EU Green Week, on 2 June (15.00-17.00) Fire Safe Europe organised a webinar bringing together European Institutions, key stakeholders, and academic partners to investigate current challenges and establish a pathway to connect fire safety and sustainability. In particular, the webinar tried to answer the following questions:
1. What is the link between sustainability and fire safety?
2. Life cycle assessment, circular economy, sustainability rating schemes – what is the role of fire safety?
3. How can fire safety be incorporated in current sustainability concepts and schemes?
4. How is fire safety integrated in EU Green Deal policies?
5. What can the European Union do to improve the connection between sustainability and fire safety?