Fire Safety Challenges of Green Buildings Author: Brian Meacham, Brandon Poole, Juan Echeverria and Raymond Cheng, Worcester Polytechnic Institute.  Re-posted by permission  of Brian Meacham NFPA Introduction Many new commercial facilities are being designed and constructed with an objective of achieving a “green building” certification. There are many sustainable building features and products that singly […]

I would love to hear the roof report from the crew who found this condition on the roof! LOL Green Maltese had the privilege  to teach about many hazards associated with Modern Roofs at FDIC 2012. We discussed Green Roofs and many challenges they present. However this is one surprise we didn’t cover and might […]

Portland Fire  RescueFirefighters knocked down a fire in a house with solar panels — which can’t be turned off — in less than 30 minutes. The panels were installed based on a new code written for just such a situation.Firefighters knocked down a fire in a Southeast Portland home this morning, maneuvering around solar panels […]

Do you know what Photovoltaic (PV) is?             What are the safety hazards with PV? What  tactics should be used at fires with PV present? How do I secure utilities on a PV system? These are just a few questions you should pose to every firefighter next shift or training meeting. Photovoltaic (PV) is a method of […]

Greetings to all, This post is dedicated  to all brothers and sister firefighters but especially those in Indianapolis, Indiana the home of FDIC the Super Bowl of Firefighting MAYOR ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF FIRST GREEN ROOF INSTALLATION ON INDIANAPOLIS CITY PROPERTY Project Addresses Drainage Issues and Creates Community Space INDIANAPOLIS – Mayor Greg Ballard today announced the […]

This post is dedicated to my brother and sister firefighters from Colorado.

Solar shingles are solar panels incognito. Instead of mounting on your roof, they become your roof or integrate seamlessly with the existing roof shingles.