Determining Design Fires for Design-Level and Extreme Events.
Determining Design Fires for Design-Level and Extreme
Events.
(256 K)
Bukowski, R. W.
Reaching New Horizons. Performance-Based Codes and Fire
Safety Design Methods, 6th International Conference.
Proceedings. June 14-16, 2006, Tokyo, Japan, Evans, D.
D.; Gordon, J.; Hasemi, Y.; Sekizawa, A., Editor(s)(s),
1-11 pp, 2006.
Keywords:
performance based codes; fire safety; design fires; fire
resistance; fire spread; egress; fire detection systems;
fire suppression; smoke control; fuel load; surveys;
fire severity; fire load; energy release rate; building
design; flame spread; regulations; scenarios; NFIRS
Abstract:
Proper fire safety design requires the appropriate
selection of design fires against which the performance
of the building is evaluated. The selection of the
design fire(s) directly impacts all aspects of fire
safety performance, including the structural fire
resistance, compartmentation against fire spread, egress
systems, manual or automatic detection systems,
suppression systems, and smoke control. In a
prescriptive regulatory environment design fires were
implied in the required fire resistance ratings and
active system requirements, as a function of use group.
As performance based regulations evolved the need to
assess performance against actual conditions of use
became clear. The attacks on the World Trade Center of
September 11, 2001 resulted in regulatory interest in
understanding the potential consequences of extreme
events in addition to performance against design level
events. These regulatory needs have led to a number of
efforts to develop consensus on design fires,
characteristic fuel loads1, and engineering methods to
assess performance against a range of end use conditions
up to extreme events. This paper will discuss ongoing
activities, suggest some reasonable approaches, and
hopefully serve as a roadmap for coordinating many of
these activities under the auspices of CIB W14.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899