Case Study Participation Report of SFPE Fire Safety Conference & Expo on Performance-Based Design

The SFPE- SFPE Fire Safety Conference & Expo on Performance-Based Design was held in Copenhagen
from April 17th to 20th, and six members from Japan chapter participated to present case study. Three
different studies were presented this time: ① Worker Housing, ② Forest tower, and ③ Co-
living/working Facility. Japan and New Zealand tackled ①, Switzerland and the UK tackled ②, and
IMSFE (a joint team of several universities with fire protection departments) tackled ③. The Worker
Housing was a fire safety design for worker accommodation for development in undeveloped areas,
and the theme was how to design accommodation with high density while ensuring fire safety in an
environment where firefighting by firefighters cannot be expected. Japan’s proposal was unique,
combining fire resistant and semi fire-resistant materials as a construction material of wooden building
to control the collapse direction of the building in the event of a fire and as a result, achieve high
density. The New Zealand team also gave us a presentation with detailed considerations, and I think
the session as a whole was very substantial.
Just one day before the conference, a fire broke out in the old stock exchange building located very
close to the hotel where the conference was held, resulting in the collapse of the wooden roof
structure and spire, just like that of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. On the third day of the conference,
Copenhagen’s Fire Chief suddenly joined the conference and gave an emergency report presentation,
reporting on the status of the fire and firefighting activities. He also made a strong call for fire
protection engineers to do their utmost to prevent such a fire from happening again, which was met
with a round of applause from the entire audience.
Even with this unexpected turn of events, it was a very meaningful experience for the Japanese team.

Case study team of Japan                         Fire of old stock exchange building

The 20th anniversary celebration of the Japan Fire Protection Engineers Association (SFPE Japan chapter)

The 20th anniversary celebration of the Japan Fire Protection Engineers Association (SFPE Japan chapter) was successfully held at Square Kojimachi (Yotsuya, Shinjuku-ku) on December 14, 2023, with 47 participants.

At the celebration, distinguished members who supported the association’s activities in its pioneering years delivered remarks reviewing the association’s history, and young members who will lead the association in the future also made remarks. Through this event, participants prayed for the future development of the association. The celebration also featured a congratulatory message from Mr. Chris Jelenewicz, CEO of SFPE Headquarters.

Group Photo

Congratulations Message for SFPE CEO Chris Jelenewicz

Site tour to the Starbucks Reserve Roastery

The site tour to Starbucks Reserve Roastery along Meguro River was held on 23th of May. About 20 people attended this tour although it was raining.
This building is a complex of roastery and caffe and a flag ship shop of each country.
This type of building was built first in Japan. Caffe space is surrounding the void space where roastery, reservoir of roasted beans, automatic conveyor pipes of coffee beans are installed. Performance based design for safe evacuation was used to realize continuous void spaces without fire compartment. As a result, the design concept as a complex of roastery and caffe is realized. This is a good example of harmonization of the design concept and fire safety design.

Participants

Inaugural greeting from the new president

Dr. Ai Sekizawa, Professor at Tokyo University of Science
President of JAFPE (The Japan Association of Fire Protection Engineers) and SFPE Japan Chapter
　　
On March 1, 2023, I was elected as the President of the Board of Directors of the Japan Association of Fire Protection Engineers (JAFPE), an NPO in Japan. At the same time, I am also responsible for the Japan Chapter of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE). Learning from the excellent leadership and management skills of my predecessor, Mr. Kiyoshi Fukui, and with the cooperation of all members, I intend to make efforts for the further development of both organizations.

JAFPE celebrated its 20th anniversary this year since its establishment in June 2003. During this time, the number of members has steadily increased from less than 40 when it was first established to 157 today. We have organized various seminars and facility tours, and exchange meetings with the SFPE Asia and Oceania chapters. Also, we have been running working group activities to meet the requests of our members, such as Profession Competency of Fire Protection Engineers, Elevator Evacuation, Fire Safety for Elderly Care Facilities and Childcare Facilities, and others.

Furthermore, when the fire safety regulations of the Building Standards Act were revised, we submitted public comments as a social dissemination from a professional group of fire protection engineers in Japan.

I would like to inherit the activities and achievements so far and work towards further development in the future.

March 31, 2023