3FiRES Project

The bilateral research project "3FiRES", involving the University of Trieste and the University of Science of Technology of China, received significant recognition during the XII Sino-Italian Week of Technology and Innovation held in Beijing in November 2023.

It is one of the ten "projects of great relevance" (out of 240 applications) that will be funded under the new scientific cooperation program between Italy (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and China (Ministry of Science and Technology).

"3FiRES - Research on BIPV Photovoltaic Facades for Fire Spread Mechanisms, Structural Failures and Resilience Improvement Methodologies" involves a research group from the Department of Engineering and Architecture at UniTS (led by Chiara Bedon) and from the University of Science and Technology of China – State Key Laboratory of Fire Science (ledby Prof. Yu Wang).

"3FiRES", selected in the thematic area "Green Energy and related research", will analyze the behavior of integrated photovoltaic facades (BIPV) in the presence of extreme accidental actions, particularly fires. These are innovative systems for green buildings that ensure specific structural and architectural functionality and performance for buildings, as well as generate electricity. Therefore, they require multidisciplinary skills and knowledge, and complex design phases.

The project includes an intense series of full-scale experimental investigations and advanced numerical simulations. These joint activities will support the evaluation of fire spread mechanisms (USTC Hefei), the analysis of the consequent damage and structural collapse (UniTS), and the development of strategies to improve functionality and resilience (UniTS + USTC Hefei).