The housing shortage has given rise to widespread podium construction: concrete podiums with timber-frame upper floors that allow contractors to deliver multifamily housing faster at a lower cost. However, experts at Ramtech North America, Stillwater, Minn., which designs and develops wireless life safety solutions used in construction, infrastructure and industrial environments, have voiced concerns that these podiums create a “vulnerability gap” during construction.

During the framing phase, large amounts of exposed structural timber are open to the elements. There are no fire defense mechanisms, turning these buildings into what Luis Suarez, Ramtech’s business development manager for the Eastern USA, describes as an exposed “firebox.”

“Podium construction is one of our best tools for tackling the U.S. housing shortage, but during the framing phase, these sites are essentially massive, exposed timber fireboxes,” Suarez said. “The industry knows the risk is high, but we are still seeing widespread reliance on manual air horns and human fire watches—technology that hasn't fundamentally changed in a hundred years. A human being simply cannot be everywhere at once on a dynamic, multistory job site.”

Across the country, wildfires are becoming more frequent and more severe. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), U.S. fire departments respond to an average of 4,440 fires in buildings under construction per year—three-quarters (76%) of which are residential properties. Although most occur during work hours, fires that start between midnight and 6 a.m. account for 51% of all property damage. Part of the problem is that residential construction sites are vacant after hours and on weekends, allowing fires to grow and spread before anyone notices.

Wood-frame construction is at the center of scrutiny by insurers and regulators as they evaluate long-term risk. With that in mind, San Francisco recently updated its fire code, requiring fire alarm systems in wood-frame buildings during construction. Other locations are engaging different techniques.

Ramtech introduced wireless technology to meet stricter underwriting requirements and NFPA 241, Standard for Safeguarding Construction, Alteration, and Demolition Operations. It incorporates battery-powered temporary wireless mesh networks (WES3) and cloud-based remote monitoring. If a sensor unit is triggered, it communicates instantly across the mesh to sound a site-wide evacuation alarm, without mains power or hardwiring.

“By implementing temporary wireless mesh networks and cloud-based remote monitoring, developers can essentially be on-site when they aren’t on-site,” Suarez continues. “The solution to climate volatility and rising insurance premiums isn’t to abandon wood-frame development; it's to change how we protect these structures during their most vulnerable phase of life.”

Some North American projects, including one in downtown Detroit and another in Chula Vista, Calif., have incorporated this kind of technology to protect workers’ lives and millions in structural assets before the building’s permanent defense are active.