NFPA Journal - Fall 2022 - 15

concerned that the buildings are less
fire-safe than their steel, concrete, or
brick counterparts.
Mass timber is a term used to
describe a construction method that
involves joining pieces of softwood
together with nails or glue to form
larger, stronger structural pieces. While
the technology is regarded by many
builders as a more environmentally
friendly and sometimes less-expensive
alternative to steel or concrete, it
has also sparked fears over fire safety,
especially when mass timber is used
to construct high-rises-buildings that
are sometimes referred to as tall wood
buildings.
In 2020, changes to the 2021
editions of NFPA 5000®
, Building
Construction and Safety Code®
NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®
, and
, allowed
for mass timber buildings to be constructed
as tall as 270 feet, provided
they meet certain fire safety requirements
such as having exit enclosures
and elevator shafts made from noncombustible
or limited-combustible
materials. Previous requirements
limited mass timber buildings to 85
feet. Currently, the world's tallest mass
timber building, located in Norway,
stands at 280 feet.
The new code allowances were
informed in part by a two-phase study
conducted from 2013 to 2018. The
research, which was supported by the
Fire Protection Research Foundation
(FPRF), found that the fire performance
of mass timber buildings is complex
and influenced by a number of factors.
This can include the types of adhesives
used to form the large wood beams,
ventilation inside the structure, and
Study: World could experience
29,000 PV fires each year
In the spring, the world achieved
1 terawatt of solar power capacity.
According to a study published around
the same time, with that milestone the
globe can expect to also experience
roughly 29,000 fires involving photovoltaic
(PV) systems each year.
The study, published by Malaysian,
British, and Danish researchers in the
Journal of Building Engineering in April,
concluded that for every 1 megawatt
of solar power capacity put to use,
0.0289 fires occur. The researchers' fire
incidence estimate is vastly higher than
what previous studies have reported. A
study published by a German research
group in 2019, for example, found that
there were 350 PV fires in Germany
over the previous two decades.
The new study also identified electrical
arcing as the most frequent
cause of PV fires. " This finding is highly
'BIG FIRE' In July, firefighters in France battled massive wildfires
during a historic heat wave that swept across Europe and helped
fuel wildfires across the region. A resident of France described
the blazes to reporters simply as " big, big, big. "
the quantity of noncombustible or
limited-combustible materials, such
as gypsum wallboard, used to shield
the beams from heat and flames arising
from interior fires. Still, the tests
performed during the five-year period
showed, just as the recent CWC testing
did, that mass timber buildings won't
burn to the ground nearly as easily as
lightweight wood-frame structures that
use smaller, untreated beams.
To learn more about the FPRF
research on tall wood buildings,
including a new study the foundation is
working on, visit nfpa.org/tallwood.
Worldwide
related to the imprudent installation
practices due to negligence and low
awareness of the fire risk associated with
PV systems by installers, " the authors
wrote.
To read more from the study, go to
sciencedirect.com and search " fault tree
analysis of fires on rooftops with photovoltaic
systems. "
Southern Europe
Wildfires rage in southern France,
other Mediterranean regions
With temperatures topping 115 degrees
F in some areas of Europe in mid-July,
wildfires swept through southern France,
Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, and other
parts of the Mediterranean. The fires
torched over 25,000 acres of land and
forced more than 15,000 people to flee
their homes.
In media reports, residents of the
affected areas described how fast and
ferociously the blazes spread. " Everything
went so fast, " one resident of
France told BBC News. " The fire was big,
big, big. " Others likened the fires to Dante's
Inferno and described the landscape
of burned-out towns as post-apocalyptic.
A climate report released by the
United Nations earlier this year predicted
the Mediterranean region would face
exactly these conditions with increasing
frequency in the years to come if average
global temperatures continue to
rise. An incresase of 3 degrees C could
translate to double or triple the average
land area burned by wildfires each year
in the Mediterranean, the report says.
The full report is available at ipcc.ch/
reports.
NFPA .ORG/JOURNAL * NFPA JOURNAL | 15
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NFPA Journal - Fall 2022

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