Project Overview
As the built environment transitions toward Net Zero, there is increasing use of low-carbon materials and construction methods such as mass timber, bio-based insulation, and other innovative systems. However, these approaches can present challenges relating to fire safety, resilience, and insurability.
Many of these systems involve greater use of combustible materials or construction approaches that can introduce concealed voids and more complex fire dynamics. At the same time, wider changes in the built environment, including the growth of electric vehicles, battery storage, green roofs, and evolving building services, are influencing both the likelihood of fire and the potential scale of damage.
These factors are already affecting insurer confidence and risk appetite. In some cases, buildings that seek to reduce embodied carbon may face increased scrutiny or reduced insurability, creating a barrier to wider adoption. This can result in project teams reverting to more traditional, higher-carbon construction approaches.
Fire suppression systems are already recognised as an effective means of controlling fire growth, limiting damage, and improving safety outcomes. This project explores how they can also act as a key enabler of Net Zero construction, supporting the use of lower-carbon materials and methods by addressing fire risk and improving resilience.
The project will produce a guidance document to support designers, insurers, regulators and clients. It builds on previous work, including the Mass Timber Insurance Playbook, and extends the discussion to a broader range of construction systems.
Objectives
The project aims to support Net Zero construction by addressing safety and insurance barriers through the effective use of fire suppression systems.
It will:
- Reframe fire suppression as a carbon-enabling measure, demonstrating how its inclusion can support overall reductions in whole-life carbon by enabling lower-carbon design choices
- Demonstrate how suppression systems can facilitate the wider adoption of lower-carbon materials and methods, particularly where these may otherwise be constrained by fire safety or insurance concerns
- Explore the role of suppression in improving insurability, resilience and stakeholder confidence, including engagement with insurers, designers and regulators
- Identify how suppression system design and specification may need to adapt to modern construction systems, including mass timber and other bio-based approaches
- Highlight risks associated with under-specification or value engineering of suppression systems, and the potential implications for performance and outcomes
- Provide clear, practical guidance with international relevance, supporting consistent understanding across different markets and regulatory contexts
Project stages
- Stakeholder engagement
Establish a steering group including representatives from fire suppression, insurance and Net Zero construction sectors - Review of current challenges
Examine how emerging materials and construction methods affect fire risk, resilience and insurance - Analysis of suppression benefits
Assess the role of suppression in improving life safety, property protection and insurability - Gap analysis
Identify gaps in existing guidance, particularly for low-carbon construction systems - Guidance development
Develop and refine a practical industry-facing guidance document - Publication and dissemination
Publish and promote the guidance through ASBP and partner networks
With thanks to our funders
Project team
Find out more
For further information or to express interest, please contact:
Dr Asselia Katenbayeva, ASBP: assselia@asbp.org.uk
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