Research and Development Program for the Safety of Threatened Buildings.
Research and Development Program for the Safety of
Threatened Buildings.
(301 K)
Grosshandler, W. L.
Fire Science and Fire Protection Engineering
International Symposium. Proceedings. China Fire
Proection Association. October 2003, Beijing, China,
100-103 pp, 2003.
Keywords:
fire protection engineering; fire science; building
fires; egress; fire safety
Abstract:
A series of tragic events in the United States over the
past decade, punctuated by the collapse of the World
Trade Center on September 11, 2001, has exposed the
vulnerability of public buildings to uncontrolled fires,
explosions, and biological attack. While the number of
such dramatic events is small, the potential (or actual)
losses in terms of life and property can be staggering.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST) throughout its history has sought to provide a
technical foundation that supports improvements to
building and fire codes, standards, and practices that
reduce the impact of conventional fires, wind loads, and
earthquakes on structures. However, the recent events
have caused NIST to broaden the scope of its research
and development to include more extreme and
unconventional threats to the safety of buildings, their
occupants and emergency responders. The new R&D program
is described in this paper.
