The Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) has announced that its 14th “SFPE International Conference on Performance-Based Codes and Fire Safety Design Methods” will be held virtually March 23-25, 2022. Hosted every other year, the conference features three days of content from global experts on current and future trends in fire regulatory systems for performance-based design. 

Conference programming includes more than 40 presentations, five poster sessions, seven case studies, six networking events, and live discussion/chat throughout. The six keynote and general session presentations include the following:

• Genesis and Findings from Three Office Compartment Fire Experiments with Cross-Laminated-Timber Slabs; by Danny J. Hopkins, Meng, EngD, CEng, FIFireE, FIMechE, PMSFPE
• Engineering Tools for Fire Protection Engineers; by Colleen A. Wade, Ph.D
• Structural Fire Protection Engineering; by the Charles Pankow Foundation
• The Continued Contribution of SFPE to Implementing Performance-Based Fire Safety Design; by Gregory B. Baker, Ph.D
• A Sociotechnical Systems Framework for Performance-Based Design for Fire Safety, by Brian J. Meacham; Ph.D., PE, CEng, EUR ING, FIFireE, FSFPE
• Opportunities and Challenges for Fire Engineering in Australia; by Brian Ashe, Ph.D, CE

The conference will begin at 8:00 a.m. EST (New York), 13:00 GMT (London), and 17:00 GST (Dubai), and run for six hours each day. To accommodate attendees from across the globe, all keynotes, general sessions, and technical presentations will be available for registered attendees to view on-demand through May 16, 2022. 

In addition to the keynotes and general session presentations, conference programming includes the topics of mass timber, building envelope, wildland urban interface, numerical simulations, environmental impacts, structural fire engineering, evacuation, monitoring/performance, smoke detection/management, practical issues, fire dynamics, unique egress strategies, and more.  An additional virtual lounge will be available to facilitate communication between registered attendees and speakers throughout the duration of the live and on-demand viewing. 

“This biennial conference is known globally as the premier event for engineering professionals looking to stay abreast of advancements in performance-based fire protection design, while also providing insight to AHJs, researchers, students, and product manufacturers,” said Nicole Boston, CAE, CEO, SFPE. “Under the leadership of Beth Tubbs, SFPE’s 2022 President, Lucia Ortega, SFPE Denmark President, and the full program committee, SFPE is pleased to invite the global fire protection and fire safety engineering community to join us at this virtual conference.”

In addition, several pre-conference and post-conference online seminars have been planned and are available at a discounted rate when bundled with conference registration. These seminars include the following:

• Understanding Human Behavior in Fire; March 7-11, 2022
• Introduction to Performance-Based Design and Regulation in Europe, March 14-18, 2022
• Fire and Life Safety Design of Very Tall Buildings: Challenges and Strategies; March 28-April 1, 2022
• Advanced Fire Dynamic Simulator with PyroSim and Smokeview; April 4-29, 2022

Visit sfpe.org/pbd2022 for the full conference schedule, sponsorship opportunities, and to register.