PROGRAM: Monday November 13th

Re-schedule for Monday 22 January (16:00-17:30 CET), ONLINE

The Council of Gas Detection and Environmental Monitoring (CoGDEM EU) is organising its 11th Carbon Monoxide Roundtable, aimed at raising awareness of CO risks and available safety solutions.

The online meeting will focus on the future implementation of the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), discussing how Member States can put indoor air quality, health and safety at the heart of their building renovation strategies. A specific focus will be put on CO-related risks in a fast transitioning heating sector, and additional safety challenges in a context of rising energy poverty.

The event will bring together Mr Pau Garcia Audi (DG ENER, ‘Buildings & Products’ Unit), Member State / European Parliament representatives and key stakeholders.

Fire Safety is at the heart of building construction and renovation. The new Energy Performance in Buildings Directive will boost the renovation of the European building stock, and offers the unmissable opportunity to integrate fire safety measures to better protect citizens in case of fire.

Fire Safety affects our quality of life not only in our housing, but also through our social infrastructure: schools, hospitals, shopping centres, theatres, exhibition centres, etc.

Today, thanks to the evolution of technology, it is possible for a building to not only deliver the services the occupants need, but to do this whilst allowing a more efficient management of the buildings, and increasing the energy savings over the life of the building. However, this also demands some new additional skills in the building sector.

Nowadays, enlisting talent for fire safety has become a challenge, but while the scarcity of skilled workforce is expected to continue in the years ahead, the job opportunities in the fire safety sector are expected to grow.

Now more than ever the fire safety sector needs to attract talent in order to thrive, and achieve the ambitious objectives of the Renovation Wave, and the Digital Transition in Europe.

Andrew Bailey is a Chartered Engineer with over 25 years of experience helping CEOs and senior leaders develop strategies, improve performance, and grow their businesses. He is an expert in Business Intelligence (BI) systems, having spent 30 years in complex engineering, Formula One and FinTech/AI. He has created and run large BI teams using data science, and advanced computing, as well as overseeing or directly supporting the adoption of HR, ERP and finance systems such as SAP, MS Dynamics and Workday. He is an executive coach, with specialisms in leadership, operations, and AI. From F1 and defence research to FinTech, Andrew has built and run some of the highest performing, and most advanced technical teams in the world. He is currently CEO of Rathbone Results.

George Zitko is the Founder & CEO at Zitko Group, an Award – Winning Talent Solutions for Global Fire and Security Companies, Business Leader and Networker, winning Employer of the Year twice. George is at the forefront of finding solutions for the skills shortage across the industry and is a passionate campaigner to bring new talent into the sector with his innovative Talent Solutions.
The Zitko Group is the Fire & Security tech industry’s leading resourcing consultancy, providing 360 solutions to help employers attract, select, develop and retain skilled people. Operating throughout the UK, mainland Europe and the USA, the Zitko Group works with employers ranging from regional businesses to the top international integrators.

Miguell Coll is Global Portfolio Director Fire Safety Services at Siemens. He is a global leader with strong technical background and innovation leader in digital buildings. Miguel’s innovative innovation mindset has helped him drive portfolios to achieve leadership based on differentiation through innovation. He is specialized in cloud and data enabled services and remote monitoring of critical fire detection and protection assets. He has specific expertise in portfolio management, strategic planning and business development.

Franklyn Okwara graduated in 2015 with an advanced masters in safety engineering from the KU Leuven, Belgium. In 2019, he obtained a second master’s degree in fire safety engineering from the Ghent University. He studied fire-related complex phenomena with combination of heat transfer, combustion, fluid dynamics, human and structural behaviour in providing fire safety solutions.
Mr. Okwara conducts the technical work of the Modern Building Alliance and represents the Alliance in technical groups, among others, the European Commission Fire Information Exchange Platform. Before joining the Modern Building Alliance, he has worked on risk analysis, fire safety design calculations, smoke and heat control systems for underground car parks and also on projects defining fire safety strategies for buildings. He is a member of SFPE Benelux Chapter.

Giuseppe Giuffrida graduated in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic of Turin (Italy). He held various roles, especially technical ones, at large industrial groups, where he developed his experience in the field of energy and fluid dynamics, before starting his freelance activity as a designer in 1980 and consultant in the plant engineering field for plants, machines and systems for air treatment and distribution and fire protection systems. Since 1992, he has been the technical manager of Zenital, the Italian Association of natural lighting and ventilation systems, smoke and heat control systems. He is a qualified fire engineer, registered in the lists of the Ministry of the Interior. Since 2022, he is associate professor of “smoke management” at the University of Bozen (Bolzano), Italy

In this serie Women 16 women who work in the construction sector are followed. All have a different expertise, but they have one thing in common: the love for the profession.

The EU’s foundational principle of free movement asserts that all its citizens, whether residents, tourists, or Erasmus students, should expect consistent protection levels and safety across the entirety of the European Union. This commitment becomes even more crucial as we advance towards the ambitious objectives of the EU Green Deal. Ensuring safety in the deployment of innovative decarbonisation solutions in our built environments is paramount, given the emerging risks associated with electrification.

In this context, fire safety emerges as a significant concern. Historically managed at the level of individual Member States and tailored to address local design, material, and climatic specificities, it presents a challenge to reaching European Union’s objectives. This event aims to explore the coordinating role that the European Union can and should perform: respecting the principle of subsidiarity while still offering a platform for data sharing, research, and experience exchange to enrich and support Member States in fire safety, especially in its shared and supporting areas of competence like tourism, energy, environment, health protection and consumer protection.

Antonio Estella de Noriega is a distinguished Spanish jurist and Professor of Administrative Law at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Estella’s academic journey led him to a Master’s in European Community Law from the Free University of Brussels and a Ph.D. from the European University Institute, where his thesis on the principle of subsidiarity earned unanimous praise for its exceptional quality, later published by Oxford University Press in 2002. His career has been marked by a deep engagement with subsidiarity. This is evident in his works such as “The Principle of Subsidiarity and its Critique” and “El Dilema de Luxemburgo: El Tribunal de Justicia de las Comunidades Europeas ante el principio de subsidiariedad”.