Quantifying the environmental consequences of fire incidents in timber buildings : A Nordic case study
(2026) In Fire Safety Journal 163.- Abstract
This study extends conventional life cycle assessment (LCA), which typically assumes an incident-free service life, to explicitly incorporate fire events and fire protection systems, enabling systematic quantification of their environmental consequences and mitigation effects in timber buildings. A proof-of-concept application was conducted for a timber-based residential compartment under four representative fire scenarios, ranging from minor object ignition to a fully developed enclosure fire, with and without sprinkler protection. Fire-related consequences were decomposed into combustion emissions, emergency response activities, and post-fire material replacement and integrated within a building LCA framework. The results show that... (More)
This study extends conventional life cycle assessment (LCA), which typically assumes an incident-free service life, to explicitly incorporate fire events and fire protection systems, enabling systematic quantification of their environmental consequences and mitigation effects in timber buildings. A proof-of-concept application was conducted for a timber-based residential compartment under four representative fire scenarios, ranging from minor object ignition to a fully developed enclosure fire, with and without sprinkler protection. Fire-related consequences were decomposed into combustion emissions, emergency response activities, and post-fire material replacement and integrated within a building LCA framework. The results show that fire development is the dominant driver of environmental burdens, with fully developed, non-sprinklered fires increasing impacts by more than 80% compared to small, confined fires. Material replacement emerged as the primary contributor, typically accounting for over 80% of total fire-related impacts, while direct combustion emissions played a comparatively minor role. Automatic sprinkler activation reduced total fire-related impacts by more than 85% across all indicators, while adding only 1–2% to the building's embodied impacts. These findings demonstrate that integrating fire scenarios into LCA enables a more realistic assessment of the environmental performance of timber buildings and supports informed decisions on low-carbon fire safety strategies.
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- author
- Dormohamadi, Mansoure LU ; Hoxha, Endrit ; McNamee, Robert LU ; Dragsted, Anders and McNamee, Margaret LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-09
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Environmental consequences, Fire, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Sprinkler systems, Timber buildings
- in
- Fire Safety Journal
- volume
- 163
- article number
- 104871
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105037757709
- ISSN
- 0379-7112
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.firesaf.2026.104871
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- d66866fc-bc2d-4578-be0d-21d515fc63ad
- date added to LUP
- 2026-08-25 14:28:24
- date last changed
- 2026-08-25 14:29:34
@article{d66866fc-bc2d-4578-be0d-21d515fc63ad,
abstract = {{<p>This study extends conventional life cycle assessment (LCA), which typically assumes an incident-free service life, to explicitly incorporate fire events and fire protection systems, enabling systematic quantification of their environmental consequences and mitigation effects in timber buildings. A proof-of-concept application was conducted for a timber-based residential compartment under four representative fire scenarios, ranging from minor object ignition to a fully developed enclosure fire, with and without sprinkler protection. Fire-related consequences were decomposed into combustion emissions, emergency response activities, and post-fire material replacement and integrated within a building LCA framework. The results show that fire development is the dominant driver of environmental burdens, with fully developed, non-sprinklered fires increasing impacts by more than 80% compared to small, confined fires. Material replacement emerged as the primary contributor, typically accounting for over 80% of total fire-related impacts, while direct combustion emissions played a comparatively minor role. Automatic sprinkler activation reduced total fire-related impacts by more than 85% across all indicators, while adding only 1–2% to the building's embodied impacts. These findings demonstrate that integrating fire scenarios into LCA enables a more realistic assessment of the environmental performance of timber buildings and supports informed decisions on low-carbon fire safety strategies.</p>}},
author = {{Dormohamadi, Mansoure and Hoxha, Endrit and McNamee, Robert and Dragsted, Anders and McNamee, Margaret}},
issn = {{0379-7112}},
keywords = {{Environmental consequences; Fire; Life Cycle Assessment (LCA); Sprinkler systems; Timber buildings}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Fire Safety Journal}},
title = {{Quantifying the environmental consequences of fire incidents in timber buildings : A Nordic case study}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.firesaf.2026.104871}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.firesaf.2026.104871}},
volume = {{163}},
year = {{2026}},
}