Abstract. A recent study on the environmental impact of automatic fire sprinklers is
documented in a two part series. The present paper examines the relationship of
automatic fire sprinkler technology to environmental sustainability. Large-scale fire
tests were conducted using identically constructed and furnished living rooms. In one
test, fire extinguishment was achieved solely by fire service intervention, and in the
other, a single residential automatic fire sprinkler was used to control the fire until
final extinguishment was achieved by the fire service. Comparisons of the total green-
house gas production, quantity of water required to extinguish the fire, quality of
water runoff, potential impact of wastewater runoff on groundwater and surface
water, and mass of materials requiring disposal between the two tests were made. The
results show that in addition to providing life safety and limiting property damage,
the use of automatic fire sprinklers is a key factor in achieving sustainability.
Keywords: Risk factors, Environmental impact, Greenhouse gas emissions
1.
Introduction and Background
Current efforts to improve sustainability
of new or existing
buildings are focused
on achieving improvements during normal operations. The importance and contri-
bution of risk factors, i.e., the potential for hazards and their consequences, for
achieving sustainable development has been assessed in two recent studies [1, 2].
Included in these studies are assessments of the lifecycle carbon emissions (LCE)
for office and residential buildings, and moderate hazard industrial facilities. The
impact of risk factors on lifecycle carbon emission, LCE, is illustrated in Figure 1.
The plot indicates the carbon emission for a building as a function of time. Note
that proportions are not to scale, but are expanded for readability. The lower
curve may be considered the carbon emissions under normal conditions; the upper
curve shows the deviation from that of normal conditions due to a fire.
For residential occupancies, the contribution of fire risk to the total lifecycle
carbon emissions of a home without sprinklers is between 0.4% and 3.7%. The
contribution of a fire risk to the total lifecycle carbon emissions of a home is
reduced to 0.2% when sprinklers are used, as all large fires are eliminated [3].
* Correspondence should be addressed to: Christopher J. Wieczorek, E-mail: Christopher.wieczorek@
FMGlobal.com