Chris Jelenewicz, P.E., FSFPE

Fire Safety in Tall Building:

Performance-Based Solutions

Kingdom Tower -- Jeddah

Central Park Tower

Philadelphia, PAOne Meridian PlazaFebruary 23, 1991

SFPE/ICC Guide

• Partnership SFPE/ICC

• Does Not Define “Tall

Building”

• Not a substitute for a

Building Code

• Identifies challenges &

provides inside on how to

address in PBD context

Challenges

Emergency Egress

Fire Resistance

Smoke Control

Suppression

Facades

Construction/Demo

First Responder Issues

Other Challenges in Guide

• International Practices

• Hazard & Risk Analysis

• Integration of Building

Systems

• System Reliability

• Detection & Alarm

• Commissioning

Why PBD?

• Evaluate designs of fire protection

measures to achieve stated

objectives

• Support alternatives to prescriptive-

based code requirements

• Evaluate the building fire safety as a

whole

• Prescriptive codes can stifle

innovation

Design Fire Scenario

Standard (under development)

Couples:

• Scenario

• Design Fire

• Acceptance Criteria

Design Fires

Estimate Fire Growth Rate

Evacuation Strategy

• Simultaneous

• Phased/Progressive

• Refuge Floors/Areas

• Sky Bridges

• Evacuation Elevators

• Combinations

Based-On

• Egress Goals

• Occupants Characteristics

• Building Characteristics

• Evacuation Scenarios

• Emergency Management Personnel

Simultaneous Evacuation

• Popular After 9/11

• Discharge?

• Stairs Only?

• No preference to those in danger

• High demand on stairs

• Other Emergencies

• Assessment of Total Evacuation Systems for Tall

Buildings (NFPA Foundation)

Phased/Progressive Evacuation

• Local Regulations

• Information Age – Difficult

• Efficient Use of Stairs

• Evacuate Those in Danger First

• Not Good for All Emergencies

Refuge Floors

Refuge Floors in Hong Kong

• Refuge Floor 20-25 Floors

• Fire Separations

• 50% of Floor Dedicated to Refuge

• Fire Safety Strategies for Supertall

Buildings in Hong Kong, W.K.

Chow, Council on Tall Buildings

and Urban Habitat

The Strand-42 floors

500 West 43rd Street

February 2014-NYC

York, NY

Protect in Place

• Refuge Areas – Residential

• Occupant Response During a Residential

Highrise Fire, CRC Canada, Guylène

Proulx

Sky Bridge -- Petronas Towers

Evacuation Elevators

• Model Codes Have Provisions

• Access for Disabled

• Protection (Shaft, Machine Room)

• Smoke Control

• Back-up Power

• Communication

• NIST Report -- The Use of Elevators for Evacuation in

Fire Emergencies in International Buildings

Fire Resistance

Structural Fire Engineering

Smoke Control

Stack Effect

Piston Effect

Wind Effect

Suppression Considerations

Pressure Zones

Without Tank

Express Risers

Facades/Exterior Wall Assemblies

Tamweel Tower, Dubai, November 2012

• Cigarette discarded

onto pile of waste

materials left by

workers next to building

• 5-1/2 hr. fire duration

• Fire spread to interior

residential units

Marina Torch, Dubai, February 21, 2015

• Source of ignition:

barbecue grill on 51st floor

balcony

• Fire damage extended 28

stories to top of building

• 101 apartments damaged

Dubai January 1, 2016

• Address Hotel

New York, NYDeutsche Bank FireAugust 18, 2007

Two Career Fire Fighters Die Following a Seven-Alarm Fire in a High-Rise Building Undergoing Simultaneous Deconstruction and Asbestos Abatement—NIOSH

• Careful Planning/Design

• Water Supply

• Fire Suppression

• Standpipe Systems

• Egress Systems

Construction & Demolition

Where is F/F Intervention?

Fire Responder Issues

Command & Control

Communications

Building Access

Operations

Rooftop Helipads

OSHA Guide

Fire Service Features

of Buildings and Fire

Protection Systems

SFPE Handbook

5th Edition

e-Book

New Content

• Human behavior in fire -- egress system design, occupant evacuation scenarios, combustion toxicity, and data for human behavior analysis

• Fire protection systems -- selection of fire safety systems, system activation and controls, and CO2 systems.

• Recent advances in fire resistance design

• New chapters on industrial fire protection, including vapor clouds, effects of thermal radiation on people, BLEVEs, dust explosions and gas and vapor explosions.

Annual Meeting

New Committee Structure

Career Resourceswww.SFPE.org

Thanks to Simpson, Gumpertz & Heiger for the use of photos.

Feel free to contact me at chris@sfpe.org