EDITOR’S LETTER
A
s I write these lines, the damage caused by the terrible fire that devastated the Notre Dame Cathedral is being assessed in Paris. The flames swallowed the spire and two
thirds of the roof, as well as the wooden structure that supported it. The trusses were those completed in 1326, with the original frames made between 1120 and 1240. It is estimated that around 1,300 oak trees were used to build them and, for this reason, the roof was also nicknamed “forest”. The images of the blackened, stacked wood on the cathedral floor are shocking. According to the statistics of the Comité Technique International de prévention et d’extinction du Feu (CTIF), in 2016 there were 3.5 million fires, of which almost 40% hit buildings. Apart from good prevention and safety practices and virtuous behaviours, there are two types of fire protection systems: active and passive. The former include all systems intended for containing and fighting a fire (e.g. alarms, fire extinguishers, hydrants, and oxygen reduction systems). The passive ones range from the containment of a building structure with fireproof panels to the use of intumescent coatings. These special paints inflate to protect their underlying wood or steel surfaces in case of fire and they are employed wherever maintaining the structures’ aesthetics is crucial. Research and development on intumescent coatings are very advanced. In addition to improving both cellulosic and hydrocarbon fire resistance, these products are required an increase in their economic efficiency, sustainability, and ease of application, but also the integration of different functions, such as corrosion protection. This issue of ipcm®_Protective Coatings includes many articles describing passive fire protection systems recently launched by the multinational companies in this industry. Who knows, some of these technologies may be chosen for the reconstruction work on the Paris Cathedral. Long-time and loyal readers will soon realise that this magazine issue also brings another important innovation, namely an editorial change: starting from this edition, ipcm®_Protective Coatings will be published only in English. The reasons for this decision were the increasingly global distribution of the magazine in both paper and digital format, the great visibility gained through ipcm®’s social activities, started two years ago especially on LinkedIn, and the loyalty of an audience of readers all over the world who work at the international level and speak English in their everyday working lives. Already three years ago, we had made the same choice for ipcm®_International Paint&Coating Magazine, our magazine dedicated to surface finishing in the General Industry. Yet, we have not stopped there. What you have in your hands is a completely renewed edition of ipcm®_Protective Coatings, with new, even more appealing graphics and an even more varied, carefully edited content. We did it for our readers – out of our five magazines, ipcm®_Protective Coatings is the one with the highest number of subscribers – but also for our advertisers, which can take advantage of such a high technical level communication means all over the world. Evolving to meet the evolved needs of our sector is the best way to celebrate the first ten
Alessia Venturi
years in business of EOS Mktg&Communication!
Editor-in-chief
ipcm® Protective Coatings - 2019 APRIL - N.29
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