News & Press Releases

Integrating Fire Safety into the EU’s Energy and Housing Policies: A Call to Action

Efectis and RISE are currently collaborating with Fire Safe Europe (FSEU) on an important project to develop European guidelines for conducting fire risk inspections in both public and residential buildings.

Fire Safe Europe acknowledges the final Grenfell Tower Inquiry report and pledges to advocate for stronger fire safety regulations across Europe

Cooperation has been our key principle in 2023 and it will grow stronger in 2024!

Read our assessment on the latest revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive

Fanny Guay (Paroc/Owens Corning) will be the new President of Fire Safe Europe

Support the #keepEUfiresafe campaign calling the European Union to develop a fire safety strategy!

Read the Joint call to the European institutions to prioritize fire safety in buildings!

Fire Safe Europe co-organised a key event at the European Parliament during European Fire Safety Week, focusing on progress in fire safety across the EU.

Rewatch the event held at the European Fire Safety Week 2023!

🔥 Join us during the European Fire Safety Week 2023 for an online panel discussion on "Fire Safety and Subsidiarity: What Role for the EU?"

Our Managing Director was interviewed by Euronews on a crucial topic: Fire Safety in the Age of Electric Vehicles🔌

Together with our partners, we spotlight how addressing fire safety in the EPBD revision will boost the safe decarbonisation of European buildings

In June, Fire Safe Europe published the latest edition of its quarterly newsletter

The survey is the first crucial step that will guide the work of the Commission’s Taskforce developing guidelines to ensure fire safety for recharging infrastructure and electric vehicles in underground and above ground covered parking areas.

Watch the full recording of the webinar "The Role of Electrical and Fire Safety Skills in the European Green Deal"

Together with other 17 organisations working on improving the fire safety of European citizens, Fire Safe Europe calls on the European Commission to establish a structural coordination of all EU policy initiatives related to fire safety of European buildings.

As official partners of the European Green Week 2023, Fire Safe Europe and the Forum for European Electrical Domestic Safety (FEEDS) will hold an event on the role of electrical and fire safety skills in the European Green Deal.

In this interview, Briab's Chief Innovation Officer discusses his work in advancing innovation, sustainability, and digitalisation in the construction industry, with a focus on fire safety engineering. Topics include the evolution of digitalisation, the role of Building Information Modelling (BIM), and the need for a paradigm shift in the industry.

In March, Fire Safe Europe signed a joint statement with 12 organisations working on fire, electrical, gas, and carbon monoxide (CO) safety regarding the revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).

In March, Fire Safe Europe published the latest edition of its quarterly newsletter.

On 15 March, the European Commission published the “Transition Pathway for Construction”, a vision on how to ensure a swift green and digital transition for this crucial ecosystem.

To mitigate fire risks, the Fire Protection Association (FPA) has recently published the Joint Code of Practice for fire safety with photovoltaic (PV) panel installations.

We are thrilled to announce the launch of Fire Safe Europe's new website, which we believe will offer a better user experience and a more visually appealing aesthetic.

The Fire Protection Association (FPA) will hold an online webinar on fire safety when charging electric vehicles (EVs).

On the 29th and 30th of March 2023, the European Conference & Expo on Fire Safety Engineering will be held in Berlin.

Today, the Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee of the European Parliament approved the report of Rapporteur MEP Ciarán Cuffe to the revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).

As part of its project on the digitalisation of construction small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), the European Commission is offering free online trainings until April 2023.

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission has recently published its Technical Report “The status and needs for implementation of Fire Safety Engineering approach in Europe”.

Today, Fire Safe Europe participated in the Steering Group meeting regarding the European Commission & RISE project on defining a common EU approach to assess the fire performances of facades.

On the 16th of March 2023, the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) will present the findings of their research project “Environmental and Health Impacts of Fire and Fire Suppression Activities During Large-Scale Fire Events”.

From the 28th to the 30th of March, REBUILD and the National Congress of Advanced Architecture and Construction 4.0 will take place at IFEMA Madrid.

We are delighted to share Fire Safe Europe Newsletter for December 2022, which contains a brief description of our latest activities.

Last week, Fire Safe Europe signed a joint letter on the fire safety guidelines for car parks with 13 organisations working on fire safety and e-mobility.

The final report of the EU FireStat project has been recently published.

Fire Safe Europe (FSEU) welcomes the European Commission’s proposal to improve the Construction Product Regulation (CPR) as a crucial step forward to boost the internal market for construction products and implement a regulatory framework fit to deliver on the green objectives.

In May 2022, Fire Safe Europe spoke at an event on digitalisation impact on fire safety.

Fire Safe Europe (FSEU) welcomes the revision of the Energy Performance Building Directive (EPBD) proposed by the European Commission, as a steppingstone towards improved energy efficiency of European buildings.

Fire Safe Europe is pleased to announce that its Board of Directors has appointed Eugenio Quintieri to be the new Managing Director, effective 1 January 2022. Eugenio succeeds Juliette Albiac.

Reduce the Global Impact of Fire on People, Businesses, Communities, Cultural Heritage, and the Environment.

MEP Pascal ARIMONT: “[…] the EU will need to focus more on the issue of sustainable fire safety in the coming years.”

Since the 2018 Revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), the EU Member States have been requested to submit their national Long Term Renovation Strategy (LTRS) to the European Commission to improve the energy efficiency and decarbonisation of the EU building stock by 2050.

Renewable Raw Materials & Fire Safety

An energy-efficient and fire-safe Renovation Wave for a safer European community

“The Construction Products Regulation must be made fit for future!”

As per the 2018 Revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), EU Member States are requested to submit to the European Commission their national Long Term Renovation Strategies (LTRS) to increase the energy efficiency and decarbonisation of their building stock by 2050.

The European Commission just launched a new open public consultation on revising the Energy Performance of Building Directive (EPBD) in the context of the European Green Deal ambition to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.

Revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive Feedback on Inception Impact Assessment

MEP Miapetra Kumpula-Natri (S&D, Finland) joined Fire Safe Europe in asking EU and national policymakers to ensure the surge of energy-efficient renovations in the EU also improves fire safety.

On 22 January the Consortium of the Pilot Project Closing Data Gaps And Paving The Way For Pan-European Fire Safety Efforts (EUFireStat) presented its first progress report to a variety of stakeholders. This report focuses on the first five months of the project and on Task 0,1 and 2.

A green and fire safe future through renovation, energy efficiency and research and innovation.

On 18 January, the European Commission launched the New European Bauhaus (NEB) as announced by President von der Leyen in her 2020 State of the Union address.

The rise of the EU Green Deal as a new policy framework

This article published in the November issue of Fire and Risk Management Journal explains why Fire Safe Europe believes that it is crucial to account for fire resilience and fire safety in our approach to buildings’ sustainability.

Melle Keppel is a full-time logistical manager for the Dutch railroads and has been a volunteer firefighter for over 17 years. Despite a substantial experience in firefighting, he still considers himself a rookie as firefighting is an always evolving field – from its techniques to the tools used.

MEP Tanja Fajon (S&D, Slovenia), MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen (EPP, Finland), and Fire Safe Europe called upon EU and national policymakers to integrate fire resilience in the EU Green Deal’s initiatives on buildings.

When it comes to fostering a sustainable future, the building sector has an important role to play and has embraced this responsibility by aiming to improve buildings’ energy-efficiency and decrease buildings’ negative consequences on the environment.

Dr Thomas Gernay is an Assistant Professor of Engineering at John Hopkins University. He has developed expertise on Structural Fire Engineering, Fire Safety Engineering, Resilient Infrastructure and Computational Mechanics. His research aims to better the multi-hazard resilience of cities and civil engineering infrastructure. He is the co-author of SAFIR, a software, developed for modelling the behaviour of building structures in fire.

Business Sprinkler Alliance’s Webinar on “Fires, Quality, Compliance and Regulations”

In this guest article, Fanny Guay, Chair of the Sustainable Buildings Advisory Panel, introduces the concept of “sustainable building” and stresses the dynamics between a buildings’ fire resilience and its sustainability. She also explains why it is necessary to include fire resilience into the current sustainable building rating schemes and in the appropriate policies.

GUEST ARTICLE from the Hellenic Institute for the Fire Protection of Structures (EL.I.PY.KA.)

On January 22, 2020, the European Parliament Committee for Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) held a debate about the Construction Products Regulation (CPR).

The European Green Deal is the European Commission’s plan to make the EU the first climate neutral continent by 2050. On December 2019, more information were unveiled by a European Commission communication.

As a consequence of several recent fires in high-rise buildings involving combustible exterior wall assemblies (façades), global enforcement authorities are revisiting their existing building inventories to assess the hazard posed by the exterior walls, the likelihood and consequence of a fire spreading over multiple stories of the building via the exterior walls and, therefore, the risk to life safety.

Guest Article by Gary Strong, Chair of the International Fire Safety Standards (IFSS) Coalition

From July 1st to July 3rd, the fire safety community convened in London to celebrate the 40th edition of Interflam. Fire Safe Europe partook in the conference and attended inspiring presentations ranging from facades’ fire safety to fire safety engineering etc.

September 25, 2019, facades fire safety experts convened to Paris for the Third International Seminar on Fire Safety of Facades (FSF2019). Fire Safe Europe joined the discussions and presented the progress made at EU level on facades. FSF2019 exemplified the eagerness of fire safety experts to work together. A recurring theme throughout the seminar was the need to bring together information and data, make it usable and accessible. As one participant said: “the password is information”.

The European Commission published today a call for tender titled “Finalisation of the European Approach to Assess the Fire Performance of Facades”.

37 newly elected MEPs from 21 countries have pledged to work to improve fire safety in buildings in this new European Parliamentary term.

On May 16 2019, the European Commission published its Recommendations on how EU countries should implement the building renovation aspects of the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). Several recommendations cover fire safety, notably regarding Member States’ Long-Term Renovation Strategies, and the possibilities offered by the Fire Information Exchange Platform.

Article by Michael Strömgren, Public Affairs Manager at Briab

Fire Safe Europe welcomes His appointment is a pivotal moment to ensure that fire safety is integrated into both the energy and housing portfolios.