pinfa-na (North America) held its 3rd annual industry day conference in Tampa, Florida, 15-16 April 2015. It focused on the commercial building and construction industry and was co-sponsored by the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable (www.p2.org). The meeting brought together a diversity of stakeholders, enabling lively and constructive discussions.
Mark Goulthorpe, architect at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) indicated that global population growth and economic advancement will result in a doubling of the built environment in the next 20-30 years, necessitating new paradigms and approaches to green building and energy consumption. The use of composite materials will continue to develop, and new fire safety solutions will be needed in these applications. Ashley White of U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) presented “New opportunities for green building materials in the LEED v4 rating system”. Shari Kram of the Dow Chemical Company presented information concerning “sustainable” polymeric brominated flame retardants for rigid polystyrene foam insulation, intended to replace the brominated flame retardant HBCD which is being phased out in different regions of world due to environmental and health concerns.
pinfa North America http://pinfa2-na.org/ The next (4th )pinfa-na annual industry day will take place in Montreal Canada on 26-27 April 2016 on flame retardancy of materials used in surface transportation (i.e. rail, bus & automotive).