The SAFETI project came about through a submission to an ADEME call for projects: Support for Innovation in Construction with Geo-Based and Bio-Based Timber Materials (SIC).
This call for projects is aimed at inducing the emergence and/or consolidation of timber, bio-based and geo-based materials streams by characterizing innovative materials and generic solutions that can be used by all the business forces in the sector.
The construction requirements applied today with the intention of reducing the carbon footprint of buildings are inevitably leading to growing use of timber.
At the international level, new regulations and recommendations pertaining to works built with timber have recently been published in countries such as Canada, the US, and Australia. However, international practices regarding automatic water-based fire suppression systems differ significantly from French practice, as do strategies for ensuring safety.
In France, interministerial work carried out since 2019 is aimed at taking better account of timber in regulations on protection against fire in buildings, especially in the residential sector.
Additional studies and research will serve to improve knowledge about the fire behaviour of timber works and will help harmonize outlooks while at the same time proposing technical solutions and construction systems for building with timber.
Built by Nature (BbN), a network and grant-making fund dedicated to promoting bio-based solutions for reducing the carbon footprint of buildings, is co-funding the SAFETI project.