New Project: Technical Basis for Separation Distances in NFPA Codes and Standards Recent events, such as the Carbide Industries explosion in Louisville, Kentucky in March of 2011, have raised questions regarding the technical basis for the separation distances between hazardous storage/processes and occupied areas in NFPA standards, many of which... Continue reading

Separation distances are specified in many NFPA codes and standards and have been developed over a number of years with varying technical basis. The Foundation has initiated a project to revisit of the historical basis of selected requirements, and develop information and guidance which may inform a sound technical basis... Continue reading

JOin us at NFPA's Annual Conference in Chicago Jun 10-13 as we review the results of the Foundation's research over the past year. 20 presentations will feature recently completed projects on fire fighter tactics and PPE, suppression strategies for hazardous commodities including lithium ion batteries, evacuation strategies from tall buildings,... Continue reading

The latest issue of NFPA Journal features "Safety by Design", the story of IKEA's safety research program. Recent Foundation research is highlighted in that story- but gaps remain in the information needed to provide a cost effective solution for IKEA and other retailers and storage companies whose inventory includes these... Continue reading

Building fire flow requirements for fire department suppression operations are based on decades‐old criteria (ISO guidelines). Over the years, building construction methods, building contents (e.g., furnishings), and fire suppression equipment and tactics have all changed. It is unclear whether current fire flow methodologies are appropriate for today’s built environment. The... Continue reading

In 2008, the Foundation published its 5 year research agenda, a seven point plan that has guided our work on the emerging issues facing fire and electrical safety. In January of this year we surveyed our stakeholders and NFPA technical staff to identify new issues and the areas where we... Continue reading

In 2008 the Foundation conducted a comprehensive assessment of the installed cost of home fire sprinklers across the U.S. NFPA has recommissioned the study to review current costs against the 2008 benchmark study to better understand the relationship between adoptions, various elements of cost (installation, materials) and total costs, how... Continue reading

We will be conducting a unique research planning exercise at Supdet and I hope you can participate. We are using the interactive workshop on Wednesday afternoon February 27th at Supdet in Orlando to take the first step to develop a research plan for three projects that have been on our... Continue reading

In 2008, the Fire Protection Research Foundation published its 5 year Strategic Research Agenda, which has played an important role in guiding our activities over the past four years. That agenda was developed in part through a broad outreach in our community to identify emerging issues in fire safety likely... Continue reading

New Project Evaluation of Fire Service Training Fires Each year thousands of fire fighters are injured during training, and occasionally some are fatally injured. Live fire training evolution is an effective and popular training method, but it’s also one that exposes the trainees to significant hazards. One common cause of... Continue reading

In November of 2012, the Foundation conducted a symposium centered on the challenges and tensions around the intersection of fire safety and sustainable building design. Building designers, many of them from Chicago's global sustainable building design community, presented trends in "green" design - ranging from photovoltaic building skins to innovative... Continue reading

The Foundation has initiated a new project on this topic with collaboration and support from FM Global Research and the detection and telecom industries. The goal of the project is the validation and application of modeling tools to predict detector actuation in these highly complex environments. The outcome will inform... Continue reading

Fire fighters and other emergency responders are routinely exposed to IDLH conditions (Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health) that contain harmful gases and particulates and require the use of specially designed personal protective equipment. Protecting fire fighters and other emergency responders from these harmful atmospheres is a challenging problem. The... Continue reading

Metal dust explosions are amongst the most complex phenomena addressed by NFPA codes and standards. The goal of this project is a compilation of recent combustible metal explosion incidents in a format that will aid in the understanding of the factors influencing the initiation and control of explosion and/or fire... Continue reading

At the Foundation's conference on fire safety and sustainable building design yesterday, several practical solutions to fire safety in green design were presented. Dan O'Connor, Aon Fire Protection Engineering, presented the results of recent research designed to more effectively utilize fire protection detection systems. Paul Turnbull, with Siemens, demonstrated how... Continue reading