Following a horror summer of bushfires in Australia we are realising that the way we have previously approached building in bushfire prone areas does not adequately address the future threats we face. Join us at 7pm on Wednesday 29th April for the video premiere as Emilis Prelgauskas takes us through a whole range of measures which can help to increase the resilience of our community in bushfire situations.
// Presentation
This talk will reveal the complicated nature of the question on how to create the most bushfire resilient properties both in areas that have historically been at risk, as well as areas we have not previously considered. It will advocate for a whole of community approach to developing resilience, utilising the concept of ‘fire fitness’ to describe measures well beyond clearing a few trees and attempting to utilise materials that are fire-rated in buildings.
Emilis will highlight specific approaches, with several case studies, to be taken by architects and other professionals, as well as home-owners to improve their chances of resilience in bushfire events. Whilst there is no such thing as a bushfire proof home in many areas, there are vast improvements that can be made in how we approach our preparations for the inevitable increasing intensity of these fires.
// Speaker
During bushfires Emilis Prelgauskas steps up to provide logistics support to veterinarians in the South Australian Tier 2 animal triage agency SAVEM. He has deployed to 16 firegrounds in the last decade including post-fire pro bono assistance on Recovery Committees to fire impacted families. In the usual day-to-day Emilis is a 47 year veteran architect also refereed as a Commissioner on the Environment Resources and Development Court of South Australia. He has a portfolio of buildings designed and occupied in fire prone areas, with some destroyed and some surviving bushfire events. He brings his practical, built environment, legal and academic backgrounds to the evolving issues of buildings and bushfire. In October 2019 he presented at the Australian Buildings Bushfire Conference in Leura, NSW.
If you have questions during or following this talk, please post them in the comments section. We will collate these and post a follow up to answer as many of these as we can at a later time. If you can't make this timeslot, the video will be available for viewing after the event.
