Tuesday, December 10, 2024
11:30 – 12:30 pm
50 Prescott Street, Gateway II, Room 1226
https://wpi.zoom.us/j/94538225714?from=addon
Roy Weghorst
Bridging the Gap: Fire Safety in Building Construction through Material Testing, System Analysis, and Real-World Case Studies
Roy Weghorst
Head of Regulatory Affairs – Fire at Kingspan, The Netherlands
ABSTRACT
The aim is to explore the essential aspects of fire safety in building constructions by contrasting regulatory testing at the material or product level with system testing of (parts of) the construction. We will look at how individual materials perform under regulatory test standards as well as their interactions in full-scale systems e.g. small-scale classification testing vs façade construction testing at intermediate scale. We will look at some of the Kingspan research into fire behaviour at a system level in different scales to get a better understanding of the interactions. Analysing fire incidents through thorough fire investigations is also key to get insights into fire behaviour in actual settings and see how we can learn from fire testing compared to real fire cases. These real-world case studies offer invaluable learning experiences, fostering a deeper understanding of the complexities of fire safety. We will underscore the importance of a proper understanding of laboratory testing, practical ad-hoc fire testing as well as fire incident analysis to enhance fire risk management education, ultimately preparing upcoming fire safety engineers with the appropriate knowledge to contribute to the development of safer, more resilient building designs in your future careers.
BIOGRAPHY
Roy Weghorst is Head of Regulatory affairs at the Kingspan Group. During the time in this role, he has developed extensive knowledge of building fire safety and fire safety regulations. Not only the compliance and performance of Kingspan products are key in this role. He is an active factor in many fire safety groups and committees. Roy is board member and the Technical officer of BBN, the Dutch passive fire protection organisation and since November this year also the President of the European Association of Passive Fire Protection (EAPFP). Once ‘fired up’ on a topic he shares his knowledge and gives an educated and realistic view on the matter.
Committed to educate governments, insurers and fire departments on the subject of fire safety of buildings and always prepared to give guest lectures or presentations for a specific audience from their own angle. Besides this he tries to actively build a relationship between technical training programs for students and the business, which shows his continued support for knowledge sharing in the construction sector.
The construction sector is a very inspiring and innovative sector to work in. On the other hand it can be crusted and old fashioned with little room for fresh thinking. Roy believes in honest and complete education on building fire safety, without restraints and with an openness which is very unusual in the sector.
Would you like to contact Roy Weghorst? Please send an email to roy.weghorst@kingspan.com or click to connect on LinkedIn.