Fire Safety Day 2024

Increased Electrification in Buildings - PVs, battery storage and e-mobility - impact on Fire Safety

University of Zagreb Faculty of Civil Engineering and the Croatian Association for Fire Protection (HUZOP) are organizing the 4th international conference EU Fire Safety Day which will take place on 21 and 22 May 2024 at the Westin Hotel, Zagreb, Croatia. The main goal of this conference is to draw the attention of international experts and stakeholders, as well as decision-makers, to an unprecedented transformation of Europe's building stock due to increased electrification, including rooftop PV panel technology, recharging infrastructure in buildings, and batteries in cars.

The same organisers have already successfully organised three on-line EU Fire Safety Days 2021, 2022 and 2023. This is the first time this conference will be held onsite.

The previous conferences were always held on May 31.
The date is not accidentally chosen; on May 31, 1731, a major fire occurred in Zagreb and engulfed its buildings. It showed that fire protection was and still is an important element of civil protection. Nowadays May 31st is celebrated every year as the day of the City of Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.

Fire safety day 2024 aftermovie

Why This Conference?

We are witnessing constant innovation in the construction sector as well as constant changes in fire safety requirements. New materials and new technologies are a great challenge for safety in the event of fires in buildings. Renovations of buildings are a great opportunity to improve the level of fire protection. How to deal with this challenge, you will hear at the conference through two projects presented by top experts in this field.
The conference will be held in English with simultaneous translation into Croatian.

Venue

The Westin hotel Zagreb

Ul. Isidora Kršnjavoga 1, 10000, Zagreb

FINAL PROGRAMME

PDF format of Programme

Presenters

Presenter	Affiliation	Title of the Presentation
Nik Rus	Researcher Phd Candidate, Zavod za gradbeništvo Slovenije - Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute, Slovenia	PV Fire Safety on Roofs - the need for a guideline
Aleš Jug	Ph.D. President of The Slovenian Fire Protection Association / Slovensko združenje za požarno varstvo (SZPV), Slovenia	Fire Dynamics and Explosion Risks of li-ion batteries
Eric Guillaume	Ph.D. General Manager at Efectis, France	Smart grids and PV in buildings: impacts in terms of fire safety
Peter Sturm	Prof., Ph.D. Graz University of Technology (TUG), Austria	Impact of battery electric vehicles on operation and safety of underground structures and buildings
Birgitte Messerschmidt	Director Applied Research, National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), USA	How to use the NFPA Fire&Life Safety Ecosystem™ to ensure a safe green transition in EU
Oskar Grönlund	Fire Protection Engineer; Research and development engineer; RISE Research Institutes of Sweden; Sweden	Guidelines for the fire protection of battery energy storage systems - Swedish experiences
Hans Nieling	Senior Instructor / Managing Director CFBT, Nedherlands	Potential dangers and fire risks in the use of alternative energy systems from the perspective of firefighting intervention
Grunde Jomaas	Prof, Ph.D. ERA Chair and Head of Department for Fire-safe Sustainable Built Environments, Zavod za gradbeništvo Slovenije - Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute, Slovenia	On-line interview: How do science and education system tackle fire safety challenges connected to new technologies in buildings?
Jose Torero Cullen	Professor & Head of UCL Department of Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering, University College London, UK	On-line interview: How do science and education system tackle fire safety challenges connected to new technologies in buildings?
Victoria Hutchison	Senior Research Project Manager, Fire Protection Research Foundation, NFPA, USA	Advancing Fire Safety in Electrified Environments: Insights from the Fire Protection Research Foundation
Hrvoje Bašić	Leading Researcher, Ph.D. University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER), Croatia	Challenges and difficulties in the implementation of photovoltaic power plant projects in buildings - Impact on fire safety
Robert McName	Ph.D., Society of Fire Protection Engineers Europe Chair (SFPE)	The importance of fire safety engineering - SFPE from a local and global perspective
Ludger Tegeler	Operations Vice President, Operations Chief Engineer, FM Insurance Europe S.A.	The view of Industrial Risk Insurers on fire risk with regards to the increased use of Batteries, PV Systems and ESS - Energy Storage Systems