Nothing beats a conference when it comes to making new contacts or re-establishing old ones. Fire Sprinkler International 2022, is the only conference with a focus on water-based fire suppression, which will bring together those professionals whose daily role encompasses the protection of life and property from fire with manufacturers, suppliers, designers and installers specialising in the sprinkler and watermist industries.
Alongside the conference is a two day exhibition dedicated to the best the sprinkler and watermist industries have to offer… again a unique chance to meet with the people who know about these things.
The conference programme, devised by Europe’s two largest professional sprinkler organisations – EFSN & BAFSA – will feature many innovative and groundbreaking developments from the water-based fire-suppression industry worldwide. Over 50 presentations will be delivered over the two days.
It is now approaching five years since the Grenfell Tower disaster but the fallout continues. One reaction has been to see residential sprinkler systems much more widely applied in the UK. FSI 2022 participants will hear how the London policy on sprinklers restricts funding for social housing to apartment buildings protected with sprinklers. Grenfell was partly made of combustible materials and Daniel Joyeux of Efectis will present French guidance on how to protect wooden residential buildings, sprinklers being part of the solution. Shayne Parker of Domestic Sprinklers will review lessons learned from the many high-rise retrofits he has conducted, while William Makant of Plumis will discuss how prescriptive approaches in standards can inhibit the take-up of innovative concepts. Ruud van Herpen of Eindhoven University will explain why a stay-in-place fire-safety design for residential buildings is only reasonable if it is protected with sprinklers.
Over the past two years we have bought more online, leading to explosive growth in the logistics industry. This continues and companies that build and operate warehouses are innovating to make their warehouses more efficient, with increased height and greater storage density. This is a fire-protection challenge and has drawn the storage, sprinkler and insurance industries closer together to address it. In our first plenary session Stuart Lloyd of Zurich Insurance will explain the challenge. In a workshop Johannes Zimmermann of SSI-Schäfer will next present a protection solution for his company’s shuttle systems, while Ingunn Haraldseid of Autostore will present the latest fire tests of a protection concept for her company’s system and Steve Wolin of Reliable will present the latest guidance from FM Global. Later Wes Baker of FM Global will discuss when ESFR designs can be based on just nine sprinklers.
With so many international experts present we decided to ask them about the future. At the start of the conference fire-safety regulators from a number of countries will discuss regulatory trends and challenges in the use of sprinkler systems, giving delegates an understanding of their perspective. Paul Sincaglia and Russ Fleming of the International Fire Suppression Alliance will then review the state of the global industry and their research into what works when it comes to developing sprinkler markets. On the second morning Amanda Kimbal of the Fire Protection Research Foundation will give an update on its suppression research. In the final session Ben Ditch of FM Global will present his company’s latest research learning. We will close the conference with another panel session, this time with senior leaders of the sprinkler industry who have a global view fed with much local detail. Volker Bechtloff of Minimax, Laurens Swennenhuis of Johnson Controls and Paul Sincaglia will discuss with Alan Brinson what is on the horizon and how they see the industry and technology developing.
Two-day delegate passes, including a welcome reception on the evening of 31 May are £700 for EFSN and BAFSA. Non-members £800. Register here FSI2022 Registration – Fire Sprinkler International
