The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) will host its annual Conference & Expo at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, on June 15–18, 2020. This comprehensive event brings together thousands of the industry’s leading professionals who will attend more than 120 educational sessions and special events.
Educational sessions will address the latest issues, challenges, and trends in the world of fire, electrical, and life safety, including emergency preparedness and response; emerging technologies; system inspection, testing, and maintenance (ITM); wildland fire mitigation; public education; data collection and analysis; code compliance; and much more.
This year’s expo will feature more than 350 exhibitors showcasing the latest products and services needed to comply with prevailing codes and standards for design, construction, and operation of the built environment. The expo floor will include three pavilions focusing, respectively, on electrical, security, and multi-residential life safety.
The following educational sessions reflect particular areas of focus:
The Built Environment
“Swinging Fire Doors: Determining the Impact of Gap Size on Fire Development and Smoke Movement” will review findings from a study addressing the effect that door gap clearances might have on the performance of a fire door, including results from generic, full-scale fire door testing in accordance with NFPA 80, Standard for Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives, as well as door gap dimensions larger than those specified in NFPA 80.
“High-Rise Retrofits” will address the challenges of renovating parts of an existing high-rise during tenant improvement projects. In this workshop, participants will work together to determine how specific triggers within NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code® impact life safety, fire protection systems, and fire alarms during such projects.
Additional sessions include:
- Green Buildings: An Update of the Safety Challenges
- Fire Safety in Very Tall Buildings and the Revised SFPE Guide
- 3D Printed Building Construction: Evaluating this Cutting-Edge Construction Method
- Marina Safety and the 2020 NEC®
- Safe and Secure Cannabis Operations through Regulatory Compliance
First Responder Health and Safety
“How Clean is Your Gear? The Science Behind Exposure Reduction” will review new testing requirements for firefighter gear and how stakeholders are striving for more effective cleaning. This session will also cover the importance of minimizing damage to gear during routine and specialized cleaning.
Additional sessions include:
- First Responder Resiliency and Mental Health Awareness
- Benefits of Fire Service Gear Cleaning: Validation through Research
- Improving Behavioral Health Outcomes for Firefighters through Annual Assessment and Feedback
- Fire Retardants and the Need to Balance Human Health and Fire Safety in the Built Environment
ESS and Lithium Ion Batteries
At “ESS Hazard Mitigation Analysis (HMA): Conducing and Evaluating Best Practices,” attendees will learn best practices for performing an energy storage system analysis and hear what AHJs look for when evaluating a facility.
NFPA will be hosting a four-hour, instructor-led training for the fire service, “NFPA Energy Storage and Solar Systems Safety Training – Fire Service Edition.”
Additional sessions include:
- ESS Listing and Propagation Testing: What AHJs Need to Know
- Characterization of Fire and Explosions Hazards from Lithium Ion Batteries
- Aviation Industry Challenge: How to Address Hazards of Lithium Ion Batteries and Evaluate New Technologies
Crowd Management
“Effective Crowd Management through the Use of Data” will provide a proof-of-concept framework for data-informed crowd management, highlighting the collection, analysis, visualization, and reporting of crowd movement.
“Special Amusements and NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®: A Panel Review of the Past, Present, and Future” will address code requirements that impact the themed entertainment industry and associated changes proposed for the upcoming edition of NFPA 101.
In addition, NFPA will be hosting a series of workshops on a wide range of issues, including hot work safety, emergency preparedness for healthcare facilities, community risk reduction (CRR) and occupancies under construction, as well as a Spotlight on First Responder Training (SORT), Spotlight on Public Education (SOPE) and ExpoPlus Especial: Sesiones en Español.
Source: NFPA
