Guidance on Design and Construction of the Built Environment Against Wildland Urban Interface Fire Hazard: A Review

Abstract Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) fires, a worldwide problem, are gaining more importance over time due to climate change and increased urbanization in WUI areas. Some jurisdictions have provided standards, codes and guidelines, which may greatly help planning, prevention and protection against wildfires. This work presents a wide systematic review of standards, codes and guidelines for the design and construction of the built environment against WUI fire hazard from North American, European, Oceanic countries, alongside with trans-national codes. The main information reviewed includes: the definition of WUI hazards, risk areas and related severity classes, the influence of land and environmental factors, the requirements for building materials, constructions, utilities, fire protection measures and road access. Some common threads among the documents reviewed have been highlighted. They include similar attempts at: (a) defining WUI risk areas and severity classes, (b) considering land factors including the defensible space (also known as ignition zones), (c) prescribing requirements for buildings and access. The main gaps highlighted in the existing standards/guidelines include lacks of detailed and widespread requirements for resources, fire protection measures, and lacks of taking into account environmental factors in detail. The main design and construction principles contained in the reviewed documents are largely based on previous research and/or good practices. Hence, the main contributions of this paper consist in: (a) systematically disseminate these guidance concepts, (b) setting a potential basis for the development of standards/guidelines in other jurisdictions lacking dedicated WUI fire design guidance, (c) highlighting gaps in existing standards/guidelines to be addressed by current and future research.

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Recent Advances in Smellscape Research for the Built Environment

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.700514 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Jieling Xiao ◽

Francesco Aletta ◽

Antonella Radicchi ◽

Kate McLean ◽

Larry E. Shiner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Justice ◽

Built Environment ◽

Policy Making ◽

Building Materials ◽

Future Research ◽

The Past ◽

Recent Advances ◽

Odour Control ◽

Methodological Approaches ◽

Control And Management

The interrelationships between humans, smells and the built environment have been the focus of increasing numbers of research studies in the past ten years. This paper reviews these trends and identifies the challenges in smellscape research from three aspects: methodological approaches, artistic design interventions and museum practices, and odour policy making. In response to the gaps and challenges identified, three areas of future research have also been identified for this field: smell archives and databases, social justice within odour control and management, and research into advanced building materials.

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Fire hazard in buildings: review, assessment and strategies for improving fire safety

PSU Research Review ◽

10.1108/prr-12-2018-0033 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 1-23 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Venkatesh Kodur ◽

Puneet Kumar ◽

Muhammad Masood Rafi

Keyword(s):

Fire Protection ◽

Fire Safety ◽

Fire Hazard ◽

Public Awareness ◽

Training Needs ◽

Social Implications ◽

Protection Measures ◽

Content Type ◽

Fire Hazards ◽

And Training

Purpose The current fire protection measures in buildings do not account for all contemporary fire hazard issues, which has made fire safety a growing concern. Therefore, this paper aims to present a critical review of current fire protection measures and their applicability to address current challenges relating to fire hazards in buildings. Design/methodology/approach To overcome fire hazards in buildings, impact of fire hazards is also reviewed to set the context for fire protection measures. Based on the review, an integrated framework for mitigation of fire hazards is proposed. The proposed framework involves enhancement of fire safety in four key areas: fire protection features in buildings, regulation and enforcement, consumer awareness and technology and resources advancement. Detailed strategies on improving fire safety in buildings in these four key areas are presented, and future research and training needs are identified. Findings Current fire protection measures lead to an unquantified level of fire safety in buildings, provide minimal strategies to mitigate fire hazard and do not account for contemporary fire hazard issues. Implementing key measures that include reliable fire protection systems, proper regulation and enforcement of building code provisions, enhancement of public awareness and proper use of technology and resources is key to mitigating fire hazard in buildings. Major research and training required to improve fire safety in buildings include developing cost-effective fire suppression systems and rational fire design approaches, characterizing new materials and developing performance-based codes. Practical implications The proposed framework encompasses both prevention and management of fire hazard. To demonstrate the applicability of this framework in improving fire safety in buildings, major limitations of current fire protection measures are identified, and detailed strategies are provided to address these limitations using proposed fire safety framework. Social implications Fire represents a severe hazard in both developing and developed countries and poses significant threat to life, structure, property and environment. The proposed framework has social implications as it addresses some of the current challenges relating to fire hazard in buildings and will enhance overall fire safety. Originality/value The novelty of proposed framework lies in encompassing both prevention and management of fire hazard. This is unlike current fire safety improvement strategies, which focus only on improving fire protection features in buildings (i.e. managing impact of fire hazard) using performance-based codes. To demonstrate the applicability of this framework in improving fire safety in buildings, major limitations of current fire protection measures are identified and detailed strategies are provided to address these limitations using proposed fire safety framework. Special emphasis is given to cost-effectiveness of proposed strategies, and research and training needs for further enhancing building fire safety are identified.

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ACTIVE TRAVEL AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT OF ELDERLY: A REVIEW

Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Environment Management ◽

10.35631/jthem.626026 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (26) ◽

pp. 281-299

Author(s):

JinHua Li ◽

Siti Hajar Misnan

Keyword(s):

Rural Communities ◽

Environmental Factors ◽

Built Environment ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Leisure Activities ◽

Physical Space ◽

The Elderly ◽

Active Travel ◽

Future Research ◽

Key Factor

The built environment is considered to be a key factor to promote the active travel (AT) of the elderly in neighbourhood. This study seeks to comprehensively identify the built environmental factors influencing active travel and to show how those environmental factors impact active travel the old adults. It reviewed the literature on neighbourhood-built environmental correlated with AT among older adults. The study found that most of the research concentrated on walking, which was associated with density, land use mix, connectivity access to services, friendly infrastructure，aesthetics，destination，safety. The results showed that the research was concentrated in developed areas and countries, developing countries were seldomly involved. Related research was mainly carried out in urban areas especially in the metropolitan area. The weather has been reported as an important factor in the elderly’s travel but was not widely tested before. Information technology has a wide-ranging impact on the activities of urban residents and the increase of online leisure activities can also reduce the daily non-essential travel time of residents. In future research, more attention needs to be paid to developing areas, small city, and rural communities. ICT changed the way people live, the interaction with other humans, and physical space, it also needs to pay more attention in this field.

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THE FEATURES OF BIODESTRUCTION PROCESSES OF THE SURFACES OF HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTIONS

Proceedings of International Conference "Managinag risks to coastal regions and communities in a changinag world" (EMECS'11 - SeaCoasts XXVI) ◽

10.31519/conferencearticle_5b1b942983b288.82436639 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Marina Vasilenko ◽

Elena Goncharova ◽

Yury Rubanov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Surface Layer ◽

Environmental Factors ◽

Food Chain ◽

Building Materials ◽

Microbial Growth ◽

Mineralogical Composition ◽

Mechanical Action ◽

Chemical Processes ◽

Hydraulic Engineering ◽

Optimal Conditions

The surfaces of building materials of hydrotechnical constructions undergo the process of algae biofouling. The degree of damage depends on the environmental factors that are affect-ed by the level of anthropogenic load areas. Modeling the biofouling process of concrete with algae under laboratory conditions has allowed determining their impact on the building ma-terial, accompanied by changes in chemical and mineralogical composition of the surface of products. The microscopic examination of sample’s surfaces and evaluation of the effective-ness of various ions leaching from building materials shows the results of "algal attack" relat-ed to the acceleration of biodegradation of materials under the influence of aggressive meta-bolic products, mechanical action neoplasms, creating optimal conditions for the development of subsequent aerobic microbial decomposers. To clarify the nature of chemical processes in the system “algocenosis – concrete” the changes of chemical and phase (mineralogical) com-position of the surface layer of concrete sample were studied. The effect that algae produce on hydraulic engineering constructions is due to the fact that these organisms, belonging to phototrophs and standing at the beginning of the food chain, initiate new microbial growth.

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