Five years ago, when we held the judging of our first Station Style Fire Station Design Awards, one of the judges was from the prestigious firm of Murphy/Jahn. A senior vice president and principal architect for the firm, he was extremely helpful in establishing the procedures for the judging process.

This distinguished architect, however, could not sway the other judges — fire chiefs — in each of the three categories of fire stations. When the judging process was completed, the architect lectured us for not looking forward and settling for traditional fire station designs. I was a bit embarrassed and thought asking a non-fire architect to help in the judging may have been a mistake.

Two years later, however, I heard a similar remark from another architect. Larry Enyart called to tell me about sustainable designs, environmental issues and the changing role of fire stations in local government. Over the past couple years I've had similar discussions with other progressive architects. Two fire station design trends are clear: sustainable and multipurpose.

I recently met with Enyart for an update on trends in fire station design. “I think that fire stations should be on the cutting edge, especially with sustainable and green buildings,” he said, adding that other municipal buildings are being built with sustainable features and that fire stations should follow suit.

“Sustainable buildings are those that are sympathetic to using resources in the creation, that are not hurting our resources and are contributing to our ecology,” Enyart said. “It's a building that does not emit gases or chemicals into the environment. It's using materials or site selection that doesn't require cutting down huge trees that will take years to replace. It's about setting a building on a site that allows rain to replenish the water table.”

Enyart encourages the use of materials made from recycled elements, such as steel or concrete in which fly-ash can be incorporated. Insulation made from recycled foam can keep heat in or out.

Of course, tradition also is important and has its place in the fire service. But a host of challenges awaits those who are designing a fire station. The decontamination of turnout gear and disposal of bloodborne pathogens must be addressed. What about Wi-Fi — capable buildings and communities and their effects on long-distance emergency response training? Training for mutual aid response, developing incident command systems and providing areas to maintain physical fitness are all incorporated into fire station design.

Fire Chief supports these efforts and will introduce a Station Style Conference to explore the latest trends in sustainable designs. This year's conference will be held May 7-9 in Phoenix, one of the fastest-growing regions of our nation and with more than 50 new fire stations being built in the area. We have handpicked leading architects in emergency response design to present the latest in fire station trends and design for you and your department. For more information, check out http://firechief.com/stationstyleconference/.

Five years ago in this column, I asked, “What would you do differently if you could build a new fire station?” Since that time, we've seen the events of 9/11, devastating hurricanes, and the Life-Safety Initiatives with an emphasis on safety and health. Have decontamination, security, fitness equipment or wireless technology been a topic in your station?

As we explore our archives in celebration of Fire Chief's 50th anniversary, it seems that more significant changes have occurred in the past 20 years than in the previous 30, and that the past seven years have seen more progress than the previous 15. Where will your department be in 2010? I predict that the fire service will finally stop repeating the cliché that the fire service is “100 years of tradition unhampered by progress.” Progress is in the majority in the fire service, from the level of professionalism and diversity of firefighters, EMTS and paramedics, to their vehicles, gear, equipment and the buildings that house them.

The fire service may not be perfect, but it's better than it was!