The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has released a new report through the Fire Protection Research Foundation, its research affiliate: “Environmental impact of fires in the built environment: Emission factors.”

Emission factors are a concern because most fires occurring in the built environment contribute to air contamination from the fire plume, contamination from water runoff containing toxic products, and other environmental discharges or release from burned materials. These emission factors must be considered in efforts to improve the sustainability of buildings.

The report contains a study that updates existing emission factors information for a range of fire conditions, and develops new emission factors for relevant building materials. This information is compiled in a database that can be expanded as additional research is conducted in the future.

Read more in the NFPA news item, and access the research report and database.