Fire Safety in High‑Rise Residential Buildings

Call for Papers – Fire Safety in High‑Rise Residential Buildings

Journal: Journal of Building Engineering (JBE)
Publisher: Elsevier (ScienceDirect)
Journal metrics: Impact Factor 7.4, CiteScore 11.5

Submission window: 30 January 2026 – 28 January 2028

This special issue focuses on cutting‑edge fire‑safety engineering for high‑rise residential buildings, driven by recent tragic fires that highlight the urgent need to improve life‑safety performance, resilience, and design practice in tall buildings. It invites experimental, numerical, and field‑based research on materials, systems, and technologies that enhance the fire performance of high‑rise structures, façades, and building envelopes.

Why this issue matters

• High‑rise residential buildings are increasingly common in dense urban areas, yet their fire‑safety design, façade systems, and compartmentation strategies have been linked to severe fire events and loss of life.

• Current practice must advance beyond code‑compliant minimums to address rapid fire spread in façades, failure of cladding systems, and the behaviour of structures under prolonged fire exposure.

• This SI aims to consolidate advanced fire‑safety and structural‑engineering knowledge and translate it into safer, more resilient, and AI‑assisted design approaches for high‑rise residential construction.

Key themes and topic areas

The special issue welcomes contributions (experimental, numerical, and case‑study based) on, but not limited to:

• Enhanced fire resistance of building structures

  • Fire‑performance of reinforced concrete, steel, and composite structures in high‑rise residential buildings.

  • Innovative structural systems and detailing to improve fire resistance and robustness.

• Fire safety of façades and cladding systems

  • Fire‑performance of façade assemblies, including ACM panels, thermally insulated composite systems, and alternative façade technologies.

  • Spreading fire mechanisms across façades and mitigation strategies.

• Fire performance of cladding and compartmentation

  • Evaluation of fire‑resistance and integrity of compartment walls, floors, and service penetrations.

  • Integration of fire‑stopping and sealing systems in high‑rise residential construction.

• Fire safety of temporary structural systems

  • Fire performance of scaffolding, formwork, and other temporary structures used during high‑rise construction.

  • Fire‑risk management during construction and refurbishment phases.

• Fire‑safety design assisted by Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • AI‑driven fire‑risk assessment, design optimisation, and code‑compliance checking.

  • Machine‑learning and data‑driven methods for predicting fire‑spread and evacuation performance.

• Fire‑retarding materials and advanced construction materials

  • Development and application of fire‑retardant, self‑extinguishing, and low‑smoke materials for façades and interiors.

  • Functionalised construction materials and advanced composites for enhanced fire performance.

• Utilisation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in fire safety

  • Use of drones for fire‑safety inspection, façade assessment, and post‑fire forensic investigations.

  • UAV‑based monitoring of façade defects and combustible envelopes.

• Fire‑testing requirements and evaluation methods

  • Full‑scale and medium‑scale fire‑testing methodologies for façade systems and building components.

  • New testing protocols and standards for high‑rise residential buildings.

The SI particularly encourages interdisciplinary work that integrates fire‑safety engineering, structural engineering, materials science, and AI/data‑driven design.

Guest editors

• Prof. Denvid Lau (Leading Guest Editor), City University of Hong Kong, China

• Prof. Cheuk Lun Chow, City University of Hong Kong, China

• Prof. Khalid Moinuddin, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia

For topic‑fit inquiries, contact: Prof. Denvid Lau at denvid.lau@cityu.edu.hk

Submission details

• Submission portal: Editorial Manager for Journal of Building Engineering:
  https://www.editorialmanager.com/jbe

• During submission, select article type: “VSI: JOBE_Fire Safety in Buildings”.

• Submission window:

  • Opens: 30 January 2026

  • Closes: 28 January 2028

• All manuscripts undergo peer review and will be published in regular journal issues, while being collected online under the Special Issue “Fire Safety in High‑Rise Residential Buildings”.

Manuscripts should be original, technically rigorous, and clearly demonstrate relevance to real‑world high‑rise residential fire‑safety challenges.

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