4/6/2018
For sustainability and environment, the wooden construction is in full development. Nevertheless, the current regulation limits the use of wooden products in buildings.
In case of high-rise buildings, the DGSCGC information note published in July 2017 recommends the use of specific studies in order to validate wooden solutions. These studies provide a performance-based approach with safety engineering application in the domain of :
- Fire resistance
- Fire behaviour of façades
- Reaction to fire of building products
The regulatory regulation accepts the use of Fire Safety Engineering for assessing solution instead of prescriptive means. The Article 26 of the ESSOC Act should increase the wooden construction.
Also in order to support the actors involved in the construction of increasingly high timber buildings Efectis, as an expert in the field of fire safety and already widely implicated in this field for many years, is working closely with institutes and laboratories as well as with professionals and authorities.
With the support of CSTB, Efectis has been entrusted by ADIVbois with a feasibility study to apply the methodologies and tools used in Fire Safety Engineering (FSE) for high-rise timber buildings(BBGH). A method of application of FSE for verifying fire stability has been defined. This methodology is already being used by the Efectis engineering department for high-rise timber building projects.
Efectis is also one of the authors – for CODIFAB (Professional Committee for the Development of French Furnishings and Wood Industries) – of various guides to support not only the building manufacturers, but also the authorities, namely:
- A guide for using wood for stairwells and elevator shafts in buildings or residential buildings
- A verification guide for warehouses with glulam structures in case of fire
Moreover, in November 2017 Efectis, in collaboration with the Prime laboratory of the University of Poitiers, launched a new PhD thesis topic (ANRT funding): the fire safety engineering of reaction to fire for the development of a methodology and the definition of rules for carrying achievements. The subject is applied in particular to interior fittings made of timber materials.
Finally, in January 2018 Efectis and the Research Institutes of Sweden, RISE, signed a mutual Memorandum of Understanding in order to jointly support fire safety research. The experience of RISE in the field of wood research, combined with the expertise and authority of the Efectis laboratory, will contribute strongly to disseminating knowledge in this field and to responding to the needs of stakeholders in fire safety.
(The Hypérion building planned on the Belcier ZAC in Bordeaux – architect Jean-Paul Viguier)
Contact: Gildas Auguin – [gildas.auguin@efectis.com]