On Sept. 28, Henderson Engineers joined BNIM to present a special continuing education class on behalf of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Kansas City and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Central Plains division.

Part of AIA’s Nooniversity classes, the “Designed to Burn” presentation focused on what impact building design, and specifically the materials used during construction, can have on the long-term health of firefighters and first responders.

Mark Chrisman, Henderson’s director of code consulting, and Jeremy Knoll of BNIM spoke to a crowded room at the event, which was sponsored by Henderson Engineers. The program was inspired by the death of a local Kansas City firefighter from cancer after spending his life entering burning buildings.

“Our goal was to bring awareness to the A/E/C industry about the need to think about the materials used in the buildings we help design,” Mark said. “We cannot just be satisfied making buildings safe for the occupants. We also need to remember that first responders – be it fire department, police department, or EMS – will have to deal with the effects of the building materials burning if there’s ever a fire.”

Firefighters are 60 percent more likely to die from cancer than the average American, according to Jeremy. They are regularly exposed to the smoke and ash-borne toxins of burning carpets, insulation, fire-retardant treated plywood, and countless other building materials that we take for granted. According to Mark, this topic is still a relatively new issue and spans many disciplines, groups, and organizations.

“A lot of the larger municipal fire departments are aware of this issue and are actively pursuing methods of mitigation and prevention, but the whole industry is really at the tip of the iceberg. There is a lot of research and collaboration that needs to happen to move this issue forward,” Mark described. “One thing we are trying to highlight is that this is not just a fire protection issue, it affects refrigeration (flammable refrigerants), interior design (furniture, product materials, and way finding), architecture (construction and energy efficiency), and MEP (energy efficiency and smoke removal), to name just a few.”

Mark is part of Henderson’s fire and life safety group, which includes 39 fire protection engineers, code consultants, and life safety specialists that are at the forefront of this movement.

“We need more discussion between designers and first responders,” Mark said. “We do a great job of coordinating our engineering systems designs with the building and fire officials, but we need to expand that to think through an actual fire or emergency event. With several former firefighters on our staff and our constant interaction with fire departments across the US, this is near and dear to our hearts. We are excited to be part of drawing attention to this issue as we view it as an industry-changing matter.”