In the heart of Valencia, Spain, researchers at the Universitat Politècnica de València are revolutionizing the way we think about fire safety in historic buildings. Led by E. Garcia-Castillo of the Institute of Concrete Science and Technology (ICITECH), a groundbreaking study published in the journal ‘Developments in the Built Environment’ is challenging conventional wisdom and offering new hope for preserving our architectural heritage.
For decades, preserving historic timber structures has been a delicate balancing act. On one hand, there’s the need to maintain the aesthetic and cultural value of these buildings. On the other, there’s the pressing concern of fire safety. Traditional prescriptive approaches often fall short, leading to interventions that can compromise the very characteristics that make these structures worth preserving. But what if there was a way to address these uncertainties and ensure fire safety without sacrificing heritage?
Enter probabilistic performance-based approaches. Unlike prescriptive methods, these approaches embrace uncertainty and offer flexibility. They allow engineers to assess the fire resistance of structures on a case-by-case basis, tailoring solutions that comply with safety requirements while preserving the building’s integrity.
Garcia-Castillo and his team have developed a novel probabilistic methodology to assess the fire resistance of timber structures, with a particular focus on historic timber jack arch flooring systems. “Our approach incorporates variability in timber density, mechanical properties, strength reduction with temperature, and applied loads,” Garcia-Castillo explains. “This allows us to develop fire fragility functions and obtain reliability indices that provide a much more nuanced understanding of a structure’s fire resistance.”
The team conducted extensive numerical simulations to test their methodology. The results were surprising. Many of the historic systems studied possessed adequate fire safety, challenging the notion that these structures are inherently unsafe.
So, what does this mean for the future of heritage preservation and the energy sector? For starters, it opens up new possibilities for retrofitting and repurposing historic buildings. With a more accurate understanding of their fire resistance, these structures can be adapted for modern use, reducing the need for new construction and the associated energy costs.
Moreover, this methodology can be applied to any timber structure, not just historic ones. This means that contemporary timber systems can also benefit from this approach, promoting more rational and sustainable design practices.
But perhaps the most exciting implication is the potential for this approach to shape future fire safety guidelines. As Garcia-Castillo puts it, “Our methodology allows for case-specific analyses, promoting the rational conservation and design of heritage and contemporary timber systems.” This could lead to more flexible and adaptive fire safety codes, better equipped to handle the unique challenges posed by timber structures.
In an era where sustainability and heritage preservation are increasingly important, this research offers a beacon of hope. It’s a testament to the power of innovative thinking and the potential of probabilistic approaches to shape the future of the built environment. As we look to the future, it’s clear that the work of Garcia-Castillo and his team at ICITECH will play a significant role in shaping how we think about fire safety, heritage preservation, and sustainable design.