Fire Safety and the New EPBD

Fire Safety and the New EPBD

15 December 2021

The revision process of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) started yesterday with the publication of a proposed text by the European Commission.

The new EPBD must fit with the European Green Deal Strategy and the Fit for 55 package aiming to decarbonise the buildings sector by 2050.

As mentioned by Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, ‘Buildings are the single largest energy consumer in Europe, using 40% of our energy, and creating 36% of our greenhouse gas emissions. That is because most buildings in the EU are not energy efficient and are still mostly powered by fossil fuels. We need to do something about this urgently, as over 85% of today's buildings will still be standing in 2050, when Europe must be climate neutral. Improving our homes is also an effective response to high energy prices – the worst-performing buildings in the EU consume many times more energy as new or properly renovated ones. And it's often the most vulnerable who live in the least efficient houses and therefore struggle to pay the bills. Renovation reduces both the energy footprint of buildings and the energy costs for households, while also boosting economic activity and job creation.’

The Commission’s proposal sets buildings on a path towards decarbonisation. This should be done via highly energy-efficient building envelopes and decentralised renewable energy production alongside making them fit the energy transition, which means supporting much greater electrification of the mobility services (charging points for cars, bikes, etc.). Such evolutions can entail fire risks – and consequently, require expertise and know-how to manage them.

The Modern Building Alliance welcomes the wording in the proposal that considers that fire safety should be looked at holistically, together with other elements, when improving buildings.  We believe such considerations should focus on:

  • Fire safety as a prerequisite to any sustainability considerations because involving skilled and competent professionals will ensure the quality and compliance of building design, construction and renovation;
  • Making regular inspections of electrical systems a much more common practice because electrical inspection regimes will ensure the evolution of the energy system to be fully ready to transit.

 

The Own Initiative on the Implementation of the EPBD supports our call for regular inspections of electrical systems and goes a step further to ensure smoke management in case of fire (full details in this article).

On top of this, the European Commission put the topic of batteries on the agenda of the Fire Information Exchange Platform meeting in April 2021. The aim was to exchange with member states representatives and stakeholders how to deal with fire safety with new electrical cars.

The topic of fire safety in the context of the renovation wave was also on the agenda of the European Fire Safety Week. Access line up, recording and presentations

 

Additional information:

European Commission’s website

European Parliament’s EPBD report touches on fire safety

European Parliament’s EPBD report touches on fire safety

10 November 2021

Yesterday, the European Parliament’ Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) adopted the Implementation Report of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) by 49 votes in favour, 11 against and two abstentions. The report looks at how the current EPBD has been implemented in EU Member States and what could be improved. It repeats the central role buildings will play to reduce CO² emissions, tackle energy poverty and support the recovery of local economies. The report still has to be voted in Strasbourg during the Plenary of December or January.

The text covers a large range of considerations and includes some topics of particular interest for fire safety:

 Amendment 8d on page 7:  […]‘calls on Member States to develop an electrical inspection regime, since 30% of domestic and 75% of domestic accidental fires have an electrical source15;  (EPP 178)’…

Electrical safety as effective preventative measure

This recommendation refers to the White paper published by the Forum for European Electrical Domestic Safety (FEEDS, 2021) which states that in Japan, the number of fires has been reduced by close to 90% since inspections became mandatory in 1960’s.

The Modern Building Alliance welcomes this recommendation and fully supports the development of electrical inspection regimes. It proves that preventative measures effectively impact the number of fire casualties. Prevention is the very first layer of the 7 layers for fire in buildings which highlights the importance to address fire safety in a holistic manner starting with prevention, detection, early suppression, evacuation, compartmentation, structural safety and firefighting.

Smoke management is a key element of an efficient fire safety strategy

The report also addresses the question of smoke management in case of a fire.

Amendment 8d on page 7:  ‘[…] believes that the European building stock renovation should integrate electrical safety checks and upgrades and ensure sufficient ventilation for smoke in case of fire (EPP 178)’

All smoke is toxic and preventing occupants from being in contact with smoke will ensure an effective, safe and quick evacuation. Fire and HVAC engineers are highly qualified to secure buildings to be properly designed and equipped to be safe in case of a fire. The Modern Building Alliance advocates for the involvement of skilled and competent professionals to be involved in building design, renovation and also maintenance of buildings. It is the best way to ensure the building to be compliant, while meeting thermal performance, comfort and safety requirements.

Smoke management is another topic covered in the EU Fire Safety Guide in the layer related to compartmentation. In addition,  a full factsheet on Smoke management is accessible here.

 

 

 

The Modern Building Alliance has been calling since its founding for a holistic approach to fire safety of building and we are delighted to see some of our key recommendations being taken over by the ITRE Committee.

Access the voted text