Timber Building: A Safe Green Structure or a Concern in Fire Safety?

Abstract

In the past, most high-rise and large multi-use or non-residential buildings were constructed from concrete and steel. Recently, timber is also attracting the interest of the construction industry for achieving sustainability. The combustibility of timber is a concern in fire safety and constitutes an obstacle to its wide-spread use in construction of buildings, especially high-rise buildings, despite its attractive properties. Knowledge of potential fire hazards and the corresponding appropriate design in fire safety measures are pre-requisites. Education and promotion by fire safe timber buildings is essential for overcoming the barrier arising from fire safety concern of timber. The intent of this paper is to consolidate the latest review to explore the way forward for further study of the fire safety of timber buildings.