In partnership with the Phoenix Fire Department (PFD), Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and the PFD will host “Designing Fire Safety into Residential Construction: Perspectives, Ideas, and Trends,” a two-day educational symposium in Phoenix, AZ, on Dec. 2-3, 2009, at the Arizona Grand Resort hotel property. The symposium's goal is to share ideas and foster discussion among interested parties who want to learn more and share ideas about designing fire safety into residential buildings in North America.

Target audience includes code officials, contractors , architects, fire service personnel, insurers, home buyers and building materials manufacturers.

Topics covered in this symposium include:

· Overview of today’s residential fire environment
· Benefits of lightweight construction materials within residential building designs
· Scientific fire research results of testing lightweight construction materials
· Protection methods for lightweight construction materials used in home building
· Smoke characterization research and advances in smoke alarm technology
· Fire resistant building materials: properties and benefits
· The experience of selling and installing residential sprinklers
· Industry comparisons of safety initiatives
· The realtors’ perspective on fire safety solutions in the home
· Perspective of builders on home fire safety
· Additional topics related to home fire safety, including insurance and fire prevention

Participants will be offered opportunities to listen to panel discussions, share ideas with speakers, ask technical questions of scientists and researchers, compare and contrasts ideas on product safety from other industries, and complete a symposium effectiveness questionnaire.

Attendees will learn how they can support fire safety initiatives in residential home construction by designing and building low cost fire safety building components into residential buildings. Social events will be held both evenings of the symposium for all participants and will allow for informal discussions, sharing of ideas, and furthering of development of ideas toward residential fire safety.

Guest speakers will represent organizations including architectural firms and associations, insurers, building product manufacturers, fire service, fire safety leadership from around the country, fire research experts, and wood products and structural building components associations.

For additional information or questions, please contact Steve Kerber at shephen.kerber@us.ul.com or (847) 664-3329 or Bob James at robert.j.james@us.ul.com or (813) 956-8669.