Applications of artificial intelligence in enhancing building fire safety

In the last ten years, the integration of big data and artificial intelligence (AI) has introduced innovative smart technologies within the building and construction sectors. AI is increasingly being applied to fire detection, risk evaluation, and fire prediction. This chapter outlines a roadmap for incorporating AI into building fire safety engineering, drawing comparisons to the evolution of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) fire modeling. It offers guidelines for developing a comprehensive fire database, using both experimental and simulated data. The chapter also explores AI algorithms with significant potential for detecting and forecasting fire scenarios, and reviews recent advancements in intelligent firefighting systems. Lastly, three new concepts for utilizing AI in building fire safety are proposed: · AI-driven fire engineering design for enhancing structural fire safety, · the implementation of a building-fire Digital Twin for real-time fire risk and development monitoring, and · the Super Real-time Forecast (SuRF) for predicting fire progression.