fire protection engineers regulatory and the process...issue no.34 the official magazine of the...

Issue No.34

T H E O F F I C I A L M A G A Z I N E O F T H E S O C I E T Y O F F I R E P R O T E C T I O N E N G I N E E R S

SPRING 2007 Issue No.34SPRING 2007

Regulatory Process

and the Fire Protection Engineers

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Spring / 2007 Fire Protection Engineering 1

F e a t u r e s Spring 2007

Subscription and address change correspondence should be sent to Fire Protection Engineering, Penton Media, Inc., 1300 East 9th Street, Cleveland, OH 44114 USA. Tel: 216.931.9180. Fax: 216.931.9969. e-Mail: [email protected].

Copyright © 2007, Society of Fire Protection Engineers. All rights reserved.

Fire ProtectionEngineer Las Vegas Fire& Rescue

Azarang (Ozzie) Mirkhah, P.E.

PresidentKoffel Associates, Inc.

William E. Koffel, P.E., FSFPE

Fire Protection Engineer– New ConstructionCity of Phoenix FireDepartment

Joe McElvaney, P.E.

Senior Fire ProtectionEngineerOffice of the Fire Marshal,State of Maryland

Kenneth E. Bush

Fire EngineerNew South Wales(Australia) Fire Brigades

David Boverman

Deputy Fire MarshalPalm Beach CountyFire Rescue

Jeff Collins

Eric J Ellis, P.E.

Invitation to Submit Articles: For information on article submission to

Fire Protection Engineering, go to www.fpemag.com/articlesubmit.asp.

10 COVER STORY

>>

Online versions of all articles can beaccessed at www.FPEmag.com.

[C O N T E N T S ]

Fire Protection Engineers in the Regulatory Process – A Roundtable DiscussionThe roles and responsibilities of FPEsemployed by regulatory agencies.By William E. Koffel, P.E., FSFPE[

>>

22 Evaluation of CFD Methods for Predicting Smoke Movement in Enclosed SpacesIdentifying the appropriate CFD model for a given situation.By Nathalie Gobeau

34 Verification and Validation – How to Determine the Accuracy of Fire ModelsAssessing the relative accuracy of fire models for nuclear power plant applications.By Mark Henry Salley, P.E.; Jason Dreisbach; Kendra Hill; Robert Kassawara, Ph.D.; Bijan Najafi; Francisco Joglar, Ph.D., P.E.;Anthony Hamins, Ph.D.; Kevin McGrattan, Ph.D.; Richard Peacock; and Bernard Gautier.

46 The Fire Engineering Brief: An Essential Tool for Regulatory Approval of Performance-Based DesignHow an FEB was successfully used to obtain approval for an atrium office building in New Zealand.By Martin Feeney and Judith K. Schulz

56 Codes and Standards and AHJs – Oh, My!Multiple paths or options in codes and standards often lead to desired goals.By NEMA

D e p a r t m e n t s

2 From the Technical Director4 Letters to the Editor6 Viewpoint8 Flashpoints58 Brainteaser60 Resources62 Marketplace66 Products/Literature68 Ad Index

cepted by the relevant professional community, or the modelercan demonstrate that the model is appropriate.

The former case is the simplest. If the engineer can referencean independent evaluation of a model, then there may not be

anything else that needs to be done to showthat the model is appropriate. Unfortunately,few models have been independently evalu-ated. This is true in part because of theamount of effort that is needed to evaluate amodel.

In other cases, it falls to the engineer todemonstrate that the model is appropriate.This may involve review of the model’s doc-umentation, comparison of model predic-tions with test data or other types of analy-sis. Demonstration that a model isappropriate is complicated by the fact thatthere are no uniform guidelines availablethat describe acceptable ways of doing this.Existing guidelines that describe how toevaluate computer models are not appropri-

ate because they identify how to evaluate a model for broadcases of application, and the engineer only needs to showthat the model is appropriate for a specific situation.

To make the job of demonstrating that a model is appropri-ate for a given application easier for the engineer, the Societyof Fire Protection Engineers has undertaken development ofguidelines on how this can be done. It is anticipated that theseguidelines will be similar in format to SFPE’s Guidelines forPeer Review in the Fire Protection Design Process. For more in-formation, visit www.sfpe.org/technical.aspx.

2 Fire Protection Engineering w w w . F P E m a g . c o m Spring / 2007

Morgan J. Hurley, P.E.Technical DirectorSociety of Fire Protection Engineers

From the TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

Ensuring Confidence in Model Results[The last several decades have seen a dramatic increase in

the use of computer fire models. Early computer fire mod-els were primarily used as a research tool, while today the

use of computer fire models is commonplace where engineeredalternatives are designed in lieu of strict code compliance andin forensic fire reconstruction. Some clients ofengineering services now request the use ofspecific fire models on their projects.

Early fire models were algebraic formulaethat permitted the prediction of simple fire ef-fects – such as flame heights, plume tempera-tures and mass entrainment rates. Subse-quent fire models enabled prediction ofnon-steady-state fire effects in enclosures,such as smoke layer temperatures, smokelayer elevation or the response of heat detec-tors or sprinklers.

More recently, computational fluid dynam-ics (CFD) modeling has increased in popular-ity. The increase in use of CFD models wasenabled by the rapid increase in desktopcomputer power and the availability of nonproprietary models.Unlike zone models, which represent a space as two uniformvolumes, CFD models allow model users to discretize a spaceinto a user-defined number of volumes. With this computationalpower comes the possibility to make more detailed predictions.

All computer models have limitations. For example, correla-tions of flame heights and smoke entrainment rates assumed anaxis-symmetric, unobstructed fire plume. While the correlationscould be used in other cases, for example, fires against a wallor in a corner, they require more than simple input of variables.As models have increased in sophistication, so have the typesof limitations of which users should be aware. With the use ofa computer fire model in an engineering application comes aresponsibility on the part of the engineer to be able to demon-strate that the model is appropriate for the case at hand.

The SFPE Code Official’s Guide to Performance-Based De-sign Review states that there are two ways that an engineercan demonstrate that a model is appropriate for a given appli-cation: the engineer can show that the model has been ac-

As models haveincreased in

sophistication, so,too, have the types of limitations of which

users should beaware.

[

Fire Protection Engineering welcomes letters to the editor.Please send correspondence to [email protected] or bymail to Fire Protection Engineering, 7315 Wisconsin Ave.,#620E, Bethesda, MD 20814.

[

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LETTERS to the EDITOR

DEAR EDITOR,

I read the editorial in the Winter 2007 issue of Fire Protec-tion Engineering magazine, in which you discussed the prob-lem of incomplete performance code design service in NewZealand due to inadequate client fees.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the American Institute of Archi-tects tried to control the professional standard of architects’service by publishing minimum fee schedules and enforcingsanctions against any architects who worked for less. In thelate 1970s, the U.S. Justice Dept. filed a lawsuit for practicesthat violated the Sherman Antitrust Act. A result was that theAIA signed a Consent Decree with the Justice Dept. that re-quired the following: We stopped advocating or using anyfee schedules. We were prohibited from discussing fees atany meetings or otherwise making deals that controlledprices. We threw out all our ethics for maybe 10 years on thefear that they might stifle competition. And every single com-ponent of the society had to listen to a teaching and re-minders each year of why we couldn’t do things like that.Each component’s leader had to make an annual report tothe national organization on the teaching and compliance.No one liked the sanctions, and it took a decade or more toend them.

That law, of course, may not apply to New Zealand. Butanother approach that I believe would work better for bothour organizations would be for us to become a muchstronger community, teaching the standards in every compo-nent; to lose our reluctance to talk about errors; and to volun-tarily provide help to other professionals who seem to havetrouble understanding or following the accepted procedures.Finally, when all else fails, we need to file organizational, ifnot legal, complaints against those of us who won’t complywith the standards. You’ve made a good start by discussingthe specific needs for improvement at the international level.

Yours truly,

Jeri L. S. Morey

DEAR EDITOR,

I read the editorial in the Fall 2006 issue of Fire ProtectionEngineering with interest. The last paragraphs of the editorialare very germane, especially as many fire protection engi-neers practicing in this country are members of the SFPE. Un-fortunately, designers in this country are not insisting on “re-sponsible fees” but instead undertaking work for insufficientfees. The net result of this approach is that the quality of thefire engineering undertaken in this country is substandard.

I am in a unique position to judge this as I manage theNew Zealand Fire Service engineering unit. We have a legalmandate to review and provide advice to regulatory build-ing authorities on “performance-based” fire engineering de-signs. As such, we review the fire engineering designs pro-duced in this country and lodged for building consent. Wehave now been in operation for two years and have beendistressed at the poor quality of the design work we haveseen. This concern is shared by other organizations involvedin the regulatory review process. Because of this concern,two independent auditors where appointed to review a random selection of the fire engineering designs receivedand the information the NZFS provided. These reports whereconcluded late last year ( the l ink to these repor ts iswww.fire.org.nz/building/dru.htm).

As noted above, many of the authors of these designs areSFPE members. We are attempting to engage with the localchapter to rectify this situation.

Regards,

Simon Davis

VIEWPOINT


>By John R. Hall, Jr.

empirical information on probabilities but rather a practi-cal method for working with probabilities with limited in-formation or common assumptions.

Chapter 6 introduces event and fault trees. The oddly titledChapter 7 on performance-based optimal design is in a loca-tion where one would expect a transitional chapter andoverview of fire risk analysis, but the chapter does not pro-vide a general conceptual model, settling for a few para-graphs on criteria, uncertainty and some other topics not cov-ered elsewhere. The book would have benefited from a

stronger transitional chapter andsome integrative concepts for thechapters to follow.

Chapter 8 begins a string of chap-ters on the modeling of particularphenomena, in this case fire initia-tion. With Chapter 9 (on “personalfactors”), these play to the strengthsof national fire incident databasesand discuss them at some length.Chapter 10 is on barrier resistance. Itwas a little surprising that this chapterdid not reference the work of TeresaLing and Brady Williamson. Chapter11 is about fire growth and the CE-SARE Risk one-zone model. Chapter12 is on smoke spread and combines

deterministic and stochastic simulation. Chapter 13 is on hu-man behavior as handled by a submodel of CESARE Risk.Chapter 14 is on performance assessment of (active) firesafety systems, using empirically based probability meas-ures. Chapter 15 is on fire brigade response, which has his-torically been the most undertreated component of thesemodels; the authors’ full chapter is most welcome.

Chapters 16-17 complete the book with two case stud-ies. Like most well-done, well-chosen case studies, these arevery helpful, though there will be a temptation to use themas a shortcut guide on how to use the general methods inall situations.

Putting it all together, this is a useful book that will fill an im-portant gap on the engineer’s bookshelf, but it is not a defin-itive tome for the ages. This book is recommended for thoseinvolved in fire risk assessment and those who would like toconsider using these methods in such assessments, but thereis a more comprehensive and ambitious book still to be writ-ten on this subject.

John Hall is with the National Fire Protection Association.

The field of fire risk assessment has been growing by leapsand bounds in the past few years. Every major interna-tional standards-developing organization has a newguide on the subject, as do many nations.

Fire risk assessment has taken three principal forms. Theoldest is the risk index method, primarily associated withthe insurance industry. These can be thought of as check-lists on steroids: not strong on explicit empirical parame-ters or fundamental physics, but arguably quite useful andsuccessful over their century-plus exis-tence. Next oldest is the classic riskanalysis model (e.g., a fault tree orevent tree) converted to fire safety, amost ly or whol ly probabi l i s t ic ap-proach. And the newest is probability-weighted hazard analysis, in which theprobabilities are reserved for ignitionand reliability, while physics modelsare used for everything else.

The first of the globally publicizedprobability-weighted hazard analysismodels came from a collaboration be-tween Canada and Australia. The lattereffort, centered at Victoria University ofTechnology under the direction of co-au-thor Beck, led to CESARE Risk.

Oddly, given this history, the bookdoes not focus on probability-weighted hazard analysesbut favors stochastic modeling for most modeling compo-nents as its approach to fire risk analysis (not fire risk as-sessment because there is also no discussion of evalua-tion). Buyer beware: This is an original and useful book,but readers will be disappointed if they are looking forsomething different than what the authors have chosen toaddress.

Chapter 2 is a conceptual overview of fire and buildingsafety from fire. Chapter 3 covers the basics of probabilitytheory. The latter is a bit more detailed than the correspon-ding chapter in the SFPE Handbook but stops well short of afull course. The reader will probably find it more useful as arefresher than as a tutorial.

Chapter 4 is a short chapter on the Beta reliability in-dex, which can be associated with Häkan Frantzich ofLund University. This is the first published treatment of thisincreasingly popular index in a book for the generalreader. Chapter 5 covers the basics of Monte Carlo simu-lation. It would have been preferable if the authors in-cluded a warning that Monte Carlo is not a substitute for

This is a useful bookthat will fill an importantgap on the engineer’sbookshelf, but it is not a definitive tome for

the ages.

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>FLASHPOINTS Fire ProtectionIndustry News

NFPA World Safety Conference & Expo Set for June

The 2007 World Safety Conference & Exposition (WSC&E) of the National Fire Pro-tection Association (NFPA) will be held June 3-7, 2007 in Boston. More than 5,000 at-tendees are expected. The keynote speaker will be Pulitzer Prize-winning author DavidMcCullough, whose best-selling books include Truman and 1776.

Opening remarks will be made by Warren McDaniels, NFPA chairman, and JamesM. Shannon, NFPA president. Awards will be given to industry leaders in recognitionof achievements in fire safety education, research, development of codes and distin-guished service.

The event will feature over 150 education sessions and a series of one- and two-daypreconference seminars. Continuing Education Units are available for most sessions.The exposition will feature more than 250 companies displaying sprinkler systems andservices, fire detection and extinguishing equipment, alarm and control panels, andmore.

Among the features of the event will be a presentation on the 2003 Rhode IslandStation Nightclub fire and the resulting code change, research and legislation issues; apresentation on the Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire that claimed 492 lives in 1942 inBoston; discussions on the World Trade Center investigations; NFPA’s new EmergencyEvacuation Planning Guide for People with Disabilities; and more.

For more information, go to www.nfpa.org.

ICC and SFPE Collaborate on Key Initiatives

The International Code Council (ICC) and the Society of Fire Protection Engineers(SFPE) are working together on key strategic initiatives to expand services offered to themembership of both organizations. The partnership will facilitate fire protection designeducation and application, and improve public safety nationwide. Under this newagreement, SFPE will offer ICC members a discounted rate on its six new online trainingseminars.

“Fire protection is a crucial part of building safety and code compliance,” says ICCCEO Rick Weiland. “Performance-based fire protection designs are being used moreand more. The Code Council’s relationship with SFPE allows us to further the science offire protection engineering and provide code officials with the technical assistanceneeded to review and evaluate these designs.”

Other areas of cooperation include the joint development and distribution of newpublications and training, the exchange of technical articles and cross-promotion.

“The new SFPE and ICC initiatives will enhance the already strong working relation-ship between our members,” says SFPE Executive Director David Evans. “Knowledgegained will facilitate the use of science and technology to protect people and propertyfrom fire around the world.”

For more information, go to www.sfpe.org.

BENEFACTORSArup FireFM Global CorporationKoffel Associates, Inc.Risk Reliability and Safety EngineersRolf Jensen & Associates, Inc.Schirmer Engineering CorporationSiemens Building Technologies, Inc.SimplexGrinnellTyco Fire and Building Products, Inc.

PATRONSAnsul, Inc.Code Consultants, Inc.GE, Security (EST, Edwards)Hughes Associates, Inc.JBA Consulting EngineersNational Fire Protection AssociationThe Reliable Automatic Sprinkler CompanySystem SensorTVA Fire and Lifesafety, Inc.Underwriters Laboratories, Inc.

MEMBERSAir Products and ControlsAllan A. Kozich & AssociatesAltronix CorporationArora Engineers, Inc.Automatic Fire Alarm AssociationBrooks Equipment Co., Inc.Cybor Fire Protection CompanyGagnon EngineeringGE Global Asset Protection ServicesGentex CorporationHarrington Group, Inc.HSB Professional Loss ControlJohn W. Nolan Company (Emeritus)Liberty Mutual PropertyMarrioff SystemsMarsh Risk ConsultingMIJA, Inc.National Fire Sprinkler AssociationThe Protection Engineering GroupThe Protectowire Company, Inc.Randal Brown & Associates, Ltd.Reliable Fire Equipment CompanyS.S. Dannaway & Associates, Inc.Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd.The University of Maryland Online Master’s

Degree ProgramWheelock, Inc.Williams Fire and Hazard Control, Inc.

SMALL BUSINESS MEMBERSBeall & Associates, Inc.Bourgeois & Associates, Inc.The Code Consortium, Inc.Davidson & Associates, Inc.Demers Associates, Inc.Engineered Fire SystemsFutrell Fire Consult and Design, Inc.Grainger Consulting, Inc.J.M. Cholin Consulting, Inc.Jaeger & Associates, Ltd.Poole Consulting Services, Inc.Risk Logic, Inc.Risk Technologies, LLCSaudi Establishment for Safety EquipmentScandaliato Design GroupSlicer and Associates, LLCWPI – Department of Fire Protection Engineering

The SFPE Corporate 100 Program was founded in 1976 to strengthen the relationship between industry and the fire protection engineering communi-ty. Membership in the program recognizes those who support the objectives ofSFPE and have a genuine concern for the safety of life and property from fire.

[


>FLASHPOINTS Fire Protection Industry News

New Online Degree to Launch in Fall

Beginning this fall, Eastern Kentucky University will offer its Bachelor of Science in Fire& Safety Engineering Technology completely online. Online classes toward the degreewill begin August 20, 2007.

In addition to the bachelor’s degree, Eastern Kentucky will offer an online Fire &Safety Engineering Technology Certificate option for fire safety professionals who do notwish to enter the full degree program. The Fire & Safety Engineering Technology Certifi-cate is comprised of core courses focusing on fire protection administration offered byEastern Kentucky and will also be available this fall.

“Eastern Kentucky’s expert faculty, internationally known for their teaching, researchand dedication to the fire and safety fields, will now be available to students world-wide,” says Dr. Larry Collins, chair, Department of Loss Prevention & Safety.

The online degree, designed to accommodate different learning styles and schedulesof working professionals in the fire and safety industry, can be completed in as little as24 months.

For more information, go to www.firescience.eku.edu.

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Denver and San Ramon, CA: EngineerEntry level to 5 years experience.

San Ramon and Chicago: Senior Engineer6+ years experience and PE registration.


B y W i l l i a m E . K o f f e l , P. E . , F S F P E

Roundtable Participants

PresidentKoffel Associates, Inc.

William E. Koffel, P.E., FSFPE

Fire Protection Engineer– New ConstructionCity of Phoenix FireDepartment

Joe McElvaney, P.E.

Senior Fire Protection EngineerOffice of the Fire Marshal,State of Maryland

Kenneth E. Bush

Fire EngineerNew South Wales(Australia) Fire Brigades

David Boverman

EngineersFire Protection

A Roundtable Discussion

in theRegulatoryProcess–


The Society of Fire Protection

Engineers has established a

goal of increasing the use of

fire protection engineers by

regulatory agencies. The

purpose of this roundtable discussion is

to gain a better understanding and ap-

preciation of the responsibilities of fire

protection engineers who are em-

ployed by regulatory agencies. The

participants in the discussion (see side-

bar) are employed by fire marshal

agencies at various levels of govern-

ment and include participants from

around the world. The following is an

excerpt of the responses received. The

complete version can be found at

www.FPEMag.com.

Fire Protection Engineer Las Vegas Fire & Rescue

Azarang (Ozzie) Mirkhah, P.E.

Senior EngineerShaanxi ProvincialFire ProtectionBureau (China)

Yan Ru

Deputy Fire MarshalPalm Beach CountyFire Rescue

Jeff Collins

Fire Protection EngineerMaine State FireMarshal’s Office

Eric J Ellis, P.E.


[ Fire Protect ion Engineers in the Regulator y Process ]

1. I am aware that somefire protection engineersreport to a building officialand some to a fire official. Towhom in the jurisdiction doyou report?

Yan Ru: In China, regulatory fire pro-tection work is separated into severallevels: state, province, municipal andcounty (district). I serve in the provin-cial-level fire department, and I reportto the supervisor in the jurisdiction.

Ozzie: I report directly to the deputyfire chief/fire marshal for the City ofLas Vegas.

Eric: The Maine State fire marshaland his assistants.

David: I report to the manager of theFire Safety Division – this would becomparable to the fire marshal in U.S.terms.

Jeff: I report to the Palm Beach Countyfire marshal.

Ken: I report directly to the chief fireprotection engineer.

Joe: I report to the City of Phoenix firemarshal.

2. Fire protection engineersin regulatory agencies can pro-vide a wide range of services.What specific tasks do you per-form?

Ozzie: I manage four assistant fireprotection engineers. We review vari-ous types of plans and submittals thatinclude planning and zoning maps,civil drawings, building plans and fireprotection reports and design submit-tals for all types of fire protection anddetection systems and smoke man-agement systems. We also participateextensively in project management

and coordination, from the concep-tual stages all the way to the comple-tion of major projects. Consideringthe complexity of fire and life safetysystems in major projects, we also areinvolved in the inspection, testing andcommissioning of the life safety andsmoke control systems.

Eric: My primary responsibility is toregulate the fire sprinkler industry forthe state. This begins with reviewing li-cense applications, writing and admin-istering licensing tests, issuing licensesand seeing that license standards areupheld during license terms and for re-newals. In addition, I review fire sprin-kler system plan submittals and per-form field inspections to verify thatinstallations are according to the per-mitted design. These inspections in-clude observing the installation andtesting of systems, water storage tanks,fire pumps, alarms, building construc-tion and other components related tofire protection.

David: I assist fire safety officers intheir assessments of performance-based alternative designs for compli-ance with the building code and re-lated standards. This includesconsulting with brigade officers, re-

viewing fire engineering design re-ports, reviewing plans, performingand reviewing engineering calcula-tions and modeling, consulting withproject stakeholders and building offi-cials (private and public), conductingbuilding inspections, reviewing andcommenting on risk analysis reportsand reviewing and commenting onsystems. Additionally, I assist with fireinvestigations where fire engineeringand/or modeling/calculations are re-quested, and assist the organizationwith risk assessment, risk manage-ment and building code development.

Ken: My position is involved in all as-pects of code enforcement activities, in-cluding participating on various code-writing committees; reviewingand preparing recommendations foramendments to nationally written documents for incorporation into stateand local codes and regulations; re-viewing plans, specifications and otherdocumentation for construction and al-terations of new and existing buildings;conducting field surveys of new andexisting building projects, including as-sociated fire protection systems, forcompliance with applicable laws andregulations and accepted engineeringand industry practices; and assisting inthe investigation of fires involving lossof life, large property loss or specialbuilding construction or fire protectionsystem designs and operations.

Yan Ru: I am involved in the accept-ance of f ire protect ion i tems formedium and large-sized building proj-ects, and I conduct audits to verify thequality of installations.

3.When do you typicallyget involved in the design of alarge, new project (concept, fi-nal design, etc.)?

Ken: We are often involved in all as-pects of any construction project. This

I am often contactedat the conceptual

stage to find out whatcodes and standards

apply, how theyinterrelate and how

they apply to real-lifescenarios.

— Eric

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includes pre-construction meetings with potential projectdesigners, zoning and planning officials, local code en-forcement officials and building design teams through theinspection of buildings for occupancy permits. Addition-ally, we remain involved in the continued resurvey ofbuildings to ensure compliance with all applicable lawsand regulations, and accepted fire safety practices.

Eric: I am often contacted at the conceptual stage to findout what codes and standards apply, how they interrelateand how they apply to real-life scenarios.

Ozzie: We are involved from the planning and zoningstages of the project, even prior to the development of theconceptual building designs, all the way to the very endwhere the certificate of occupancy is issued. At times, ourinvolvement goes even further on major complex projects,where we are involved in the annual acceptance testingand approval of the fire and life safety systems.

Jeff: We, too, are involved with all new construction proj-ects, both large and small, during the planning stage. We


have input and are required to sign off prior to the devel-opmental review process.

David: Our experience is different, in that we most com-monly get involved at the building approval stage, whichwould be at about the 80 percent design stage. On someprojects, the involvement might be at the preliminarystages.

4. What is the most challenging aspect ofyour position?

David: Working in an environment where the buildingcode is performance-based; where the building official iscommonly employed by the project proponent; whereperformance-based alternatives to prescriptive compli-ance for major issues can be justified without completeand robust fire engineering; where lines of accountabilityand responsibility are vague; and where compliance isfundamentally based on self-certification.

Ozzie: Dealing with the politics involved with smallerprojects. Because in our process the major complex proj-ects are well-coordinated, things proceed quite smoothlyand there are no surprises at the eleventh hour. But littletenant improvements for existing old churches, schools orrestaurants that were not required to have fire sprinklersat the time they were constructed, and now are requiredto have such protection, at times will generate consider-able political concerns. Handling these types of situationsin a tactful way, and yet not compromising on the fire andlife safety requirements of our codes, is at times ratherchallenging.

Eric: No doubt the most challenging thing is to find thetime to meet the growing workload. Electronic technologyhas been a tremendous help to maximize efficiency oftime. My office has been very supportive with providingthe latest and best in electronic tools, including a laptopwith software for accessing my desktop computer when Iam out of town. In the pressure of the daily workload, it isalso imperative for the f ire protect ion engineer to manage his or her time to keep up with code and tech-nology changes and any training that they may involve.

Jeff: The most challenging aspect is trying to apply the ex-isting sections of the fire code to buildings that do not al-ways fit, in other words, working in the “gray” areas ofthe code.

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Ken: Probably the most challengingaspect is the coordination and appli-cation of codes and standards to aparticular project or design. With avariety of codes and code editionsadopted by a number of different gov-ernmental jurisdictions, the specificapplication to a particular project canbe quite a challenge. There are oftena number of different officials in-volved in projects which are governedby this office, which leads to a varietyof differing applications and interpre-tations of requirements. This can intro-duce a real coordination challengefor any project.

Yan Ru: The science and technologyare changing with each passing day.Conventional technological protectionmethods cannot meet the require-ments for many applications, whichleads to increased use of perform-ance-based design.

5. What is the most reward-ing aspect of your position?

Joe: Watching a project go from con-cept to completion and knowing that Iplay a role in making someone’sdream come true.

Ozzie: Our department’s slogan is“striving for a safer community.”Knowing the important role that thefire protection engineering sectionplays in providing the highest levelsof fire protection and life safety, notonly to our citizens and the 40 mil-lion annual visitors, but also to ourown firefighters is the most reward-ing aspect of my position.

David: Working on very real issuesthat have an effect on firefighter andpublic safety, working in an environ-ment where fire protection engineer-ing and performance-based designand compliance are fully embraced,

6. At what stage of theproject do fire protection engi-neers on the design team typi-cally get involved?

Ozzie: We require that, for high-risebuildings, the design team have a pro-fessional fire protection engineer onboard from the earliest phase of con-ception of a project in the planningstages, all the way through the verylast minute when the final certificate ofoccupancy is granted.

Eric: There is a need for fire protectionengineers to get involved in the earlystages of design. This is because fireprotection features have an impact onthe construction type to be used, thebuilding layout and the undergroundwater supply. For these reasons, thefire protection engineer is often partof the architectural design team. Alter-natively, an independent fire protec-tion engineer may be subcontractedearly in the process to both verify andprovide critical design information.

David: Fire protection engineers com-


and having the opportunity to shapea maturing fire protection engineer-ing industry here in Australia are allrewarding aspects of my job.

Ken: The most rewarding aspect ofthis position has to be the comple-tion of a construction project and thesuccessful occupancy and operationof a building which has been de-signed, evaluated and constructedwith life safety and property protec-t ion in mind. I t is also gratifyingwhen a number of code officials andbuilding designers and operatorscan mutually agree on a cost-effec-tive approach which satisfies theneeds and desires of all involvedparties.

Yan Ru: I think there are two reward-ing aspects – one is on a materiallevel and the other is on a spirituallevel. The material aspects includespromotions and salary increases,and the spiritual aspect comes fromthe sense of satisfaction after tri -umphing over the difficulty of thework and reaching completion.

I think there are two rewarding aspects – oneis on a material level and the other is on a

spiritual level. The material aspects includespromotions and salary increases, and thespiritual aspect comes from the sense of

satisfaction after triumphing over the difficultyof the work and reaching completion.

—Yan Ru[

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sign of a building project is completedby a building design institute. The fireprotection design is completed by adesigner from a discipline other thanfire protection engineering.

7. When fire protection en-gineers are part of the designteam, what differences do yousee in the quality of the submit-tals?

Ozzie: The design quality is muchhigher, and projects run muchsmoother and tend to be completedon time when fire protection engi-neers are part of the design team. Theowners are the ones who really reapthe benefit from the fire protection en-gineer’s involvement in the project.While they might have doubt at firstas to what value fire protection engi-neers provide, at the end they are soldon the benefits of having a fire protec-tion engineer on the design team.

Eric: The submittals by fire protectionengineers are typically very detailed,professional, and reflect a workingknowledge of their designs. Those byothers are sometimes very good andsometimes they are not.

Joe: Having fire protection engineerson the design team ensures a true un-derstanding of what needs to be doneto complete the project and complywith all the codes.

David: While it depends on the individ-ual practitioners in question, generallyspeaking, the quality of submittals ismuch better when fire protection engi-neers are part of the design team.

Ken: A fire protection engineer isspecifically trained and experiencedin the application of fire protectionprinciples and can relate better tofire protection terminology, the in-tent of specific code requirementsand adaptation of recognized prac-


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monly get involved at the building ap-proval stage, which would be atabout the 80 percent design stage, al-though on some projects the involve-ment might be at the preliminarystages (i.e., the pre-planning ap-proval application stage). It is quite

common for fire protection engineersto become engaged only when abuilding code review of the final de-sign shows areas of noncompliance.

Yan Ru: Together with other areas ofbuilding design, the fire protection de-


tices in order to maintain an ade-quate level of safety. Where otherdesign professionals are associatedwith fire protection activities, theyare more likely to specify only whatis noted in the exact code languageand have less feel for adaptation orapplication of alternative features,which may provide a cost-effectivemeasure to similar, if not superior,life safety measures.

8. If you could make onecomment to a prospective fireprotection engineer, whatwould you say to encouragethem to do what you do?

Eric: I would say to come spend sometime with me while I work so thathe/she can see just what it is that I do,with the richness and the variety ofchallenges as well as the balance ofboth office and field work.

David: If you want to have the oppor-tunity to use your education, trainingand experience in a rapidly changingand evolving profession that em-braces fire protection engineeringand performance-based buildingcode compliance, then this would bethe place to do it.

Jeff: At the end of the day, my duty is toserve the public, and I never have hadto compromise my ethics or values toserve the needs of my clients. I work un-der the fascinating umbrella of publictrust and love serving the community.

Ken: I believe that being involved inthe code development process hasproved to be invaluable in the overallapplication and understanding of theenforcement process and the proce-dures for modifications to addressspecific issues and conditions.

Yan Ru: The work is full of challengesand offers a bright future.

9. Do you make use of fireprotection engineers to providethird-party services? If so,what tasks do they perform?

Ozzie: During the construction phase ofthe projects, fire protection engineersprovide third-party services in commis-sioning of smoke control systems priorto our final inspection, testing and ap-proval. Fire protection engineers arealso involved in the annual inspectionand maintenance of smoke control systems.

Eric: We require the seal of a licensedfire protection engineer on fire protec-tion plans on projects that involve fireprotection systems that cost over a mil-lion dollars.

Joe: Yes, we have used fire protectionengineers to provide third-party serv-ices. Most of the time, these serviceswere for reviewing the work of otherfire protection engineers or when thedesign team and the city disagreeand a third party is needed to reviewthe submittal.

David: We have requested third-partyservices for major projects where weserve as the approval authority (e.g.,large infrastructure projects such as

road tunnels). Fire protection engi-neers are used to review all documen-tation, installation and commissioningso that they can review, comment onand hopefully concur that compliancewith adopted requirements has beenachieved.

I believe that we should involve fireengineers for third-party review morefrequently for major projects.

10. Have you seen an in-crease in performance-baseddesigns?

Ozzie: In my mind, Las Vegas is thebirthplace of performance-based de-sign. We have had various levels ofperformance-based design for morethan a decade, so for me, it is hard totell if there is any increase.

David: We have seen an increasesince building officials (private andpublic alike) are forwarding moreprojects to us for review and comment.We do not typically get involved inprojects that are strictly prescriptive.

Jeff: We have significantly made use ofthe alternate methods and materials,and equivalency language in the firecode since my employment here atPalm Beach County. I have yet to see afull-blown performance-based designon an entire project. We typically en-counter alternatives when the specificrequirements of a particular section ofthe fire code or life safety code cannotbe met or is impractical to meet.

Yan Ru: Yes. In recent years, the econ-omy of China has developed very rap-idly. The number of new buildings be-ing planned has increased. Theoriginal prescription-type standard hasbeen unable to satisfy the fire protec-tion design requirement for all build-ings. Therefore, performance-baseddesign is frequently required.


At the end of theday, my duty is to

serve the public, andI never have had to

compromise myethics or values toserve the needs of

my clients.—Jeff

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for Predicting Smoke Movement in Enclosed Spaces

Anew study from the Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL),Buxton, Derbyshire, United Kingdom, provides guide-lines, recommendations and best practices for the practi-cal application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)to the modeling of smoke movement in enclosed spaces.1

HSL modeled three fire safety engineering cases: a subway station, anaccommodation module on an offshore platform and a high-rise build-ing under construction.2 Aspects of the modeling process, including thecomputational grid, the discretization scheme and the turbulencemodel, were varied for each scenario and resulting predictions ofsmoke transport were compared.

for Predicting Smoke Movement in Enclosed Spaces

Evaluation of Evaluation of

CFD Methods B y N a t h a l i e G o b e a u

Spring / 2007 w w w . F P E m a g . c o m Fire Protection Engineering 23

Since it was impractical to gather experimentaldata for these scenarios and compare the predictionswith the real behavior of smoke, laboratory-scale ex-periments were designed. Although the geometries ofthe four configurations investigated were relativelysimple, they still retained some of the complex fea-tures found in the real scenarios, for example, in-

clined corridors, a corridor leading to a hall and acorridor leading to an atrium. Measurements of tem-peratures and visualization of smoke by a laser tech-nique were undertaken. Each small-scale configura-tion was reproduced by CFD, and the predictedsmoke behavior was compared with the experimen-tal data, allowing the level of agreement to be quan-

All of the differentapproaches providedrealistic results, indicat-ing they can be usedas the basis for an

engineered approachto fire safety.

[ ]


tified. As for the real scenarios, severalCFD modeling approaches were em-ployed and compared.

All of the different approaches pro-vided realistic results, indicating theycan be used as the basis for an engi-neered approach to fire safety. How-ever, a comparison of quantitativedata, such as the temperature of thehot layer, showed that key output re-sults can vary greatly depending onthe modeling approach used. Recom-mendations developed as part of thisstudy1 provide guidelines that willhelp both CFD practitioners and regu-lators identify the most appropriateCFD modeling approach for the sce-nario under investigation and for thepurpose of the simulation – whether itis, for example, to evaluate the timeavailable for evacuation before

smoke becomes too dense or to checkthe effectiveness of a ventilation de-sign in clearing the smoke from exitroutes.

Use of CFD as a Fire Safety Engineering Tool

CFD is a powerful technique thatprovides an approximate solution tothe coupled governing fluid flowequations for mass, momentum andenergy transport. The flexibility of thetechnique makes it possible to solvethese equations in very complexspaces, unlike simpler modeling meth-ods that are sometimes used to predictsmoke movement. CFD is now beingincreasingly used in fire protection en-gineering to predict the movement ofsmoke in complex enclosed spaces

[ Evaluat ion of CFD Methods for Predict ing Smoke Movement in Enclosed Spaces ]

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such as atria, shopping malls andwarehouses. It is likely that regulatoryagencies will increasingly be facedwith assessing fire safety cases thatare either entirely or partly based onthe results of CFD simulations.

The main aim of the project is toquantify the advantages and limita-tions of CFD for predicting smokemovement in complex enclosedspaces. The project began with mod-eling of real scenarios. Investigatorsnext checked the sensitivity of CFD re-sul ts to a range of modeling ap-proaches widely employed by the fireprotection engineering community.This is because when setting up amodel, CFD practitioners have tomake numerous numerical and physi-cal approximations. For example, thephysical processes of the fire itself can



be described by a variety of different submodels ofvarying complexity.

Small-scale experiments were performed in order tofocus on areas identified by the initial simulations aspotentially challenging for CFD. Then the small-scaleexperiments were modeled with CFD and the resultswere compared against the experimental results. TheANSYS® CFX® code was used for all cases. ANSYSCFX is a commercial CFD package with a wide rangeof physical and numerical submodels suited for firesafety engineering, and CFX has been widely used forsmoke movement applications.

Modeling the Three Scenarios

A four-level underground station on the Jubilee LineExtension of the London Underground was used as onerepresentative fire scenario. It was assumed that themain source of the fire was a suitcase containingclothes. In the underground station, none of the fittingsor equipment are highly flammable. It was therefore as-sumed that the main fire source in the public areascould be the suitcase. The fire was assumed to occur inthe ticket hall, in front of the shops on the unpaid sideof the ticket barrier. This location was suggested by fireservices. An unstructured mesh was created, and themesh was refined at strategic locations.

An offshore accommodation with four main floorswas modeled as the second case. The fire was as-sumed to start in the first-floor laundry, and smoke wastransported into the corridors and upper levels via thestairwells. In this work, linen was assumed to burn inthe laundry on the first floor. The main interest is in thetransport of smoke out of the laundry into corridors andupper levels via the stairwells. The reduced complexityof the interior space compared to the underground sta-tion made it possible to use a structured grid.

An18-story office building under construction in Lon-don was selected as the third example. Buildings underconstruction where fire safety equipment often is not op-erational are particular fire risks. The fire was assumedto start on the first floor when an armchair caught on fire.The main interest here was the transport of smoke to re-mote upper stories of the building via the stairwell andatrium. This was also a relatively simple geometry, so astructured mesh was also used in this application.

In the underground station, a fire with a peak heatoutput of 0.2 MW was used. For both the offshore ac-commodation module and the building under construc-tion, a 1 MW fire was used. The offshore accommoda-tion module and the building under construction wereconsidered to be completely sealed, so no inlet or out-let boundary conditions were defined and quiescent

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conditions were imposed at the start.Large fans were provided in the un-derground station to generate a venti-lation flow in the event of a fire toclear smoke from the ticket hall andexhaust it via the passenger exits. Tomodel this situation, imposed flowboundary conditions were applied onthe surfaces that correspond to the ex-its. A small background ventilationflux was used as the initial condition.

The ANSYS CFX results for the un-derground station show that in thefive-minute period before forced ven-tilation is initiated, smoke is trans-ported throughout most of the tickethall and appears to extend to themain exit routes. Other emergencyroutes existed that enabled passen-gers and staff to escape without go-ing through the ticket hall. Following

Design of Small-Scale Experi-ments and Evaluation of CFD

A series of small-scale experimentswas undertaken to provide data forthe evaluation of CFD modeling ofsmoke movement. A number of CFDmodeling approaches were evaluatedagainst this data. Experiments wereperformed at approximately one-tenthscale in four different test configura-tions. The movement of a hot layerwas studied in a horizontal and an in-clined tunnel. The evolution of the tem-perature field was studied in twolarger spaces connected to the tunnel,a domain with a large floor area anda domain with a large ceiling height,representing a booking hall andatrium, respectively. A well-character-ized heat source was used. Laser light


the star tup of forced venti lation,smoke is cleared from the large partsof the paid side of the ticket hall, thepart past the ticket barrier, by beingconvected towards the exits and intothe dome. Analysis of the results inthe offshore accommodation moduleshowed that at approximately 60seconds after ignition, smoke makesits way into the adjoining corridorand 120 seconds later it has risenhalfway up the nearest staircase. Inthe bui lding under construct ion,smoke spreads as a ceiling layerwithin the third floor open-plan of-fice. Shortly after one minute, smokehas entered the atrium and 120 sec-onds later it has risen five stories. Atfour minutes after ignition, it hasreached the highest floor and is alsorising in the stairwell.

32 Fire Protection Engineering w w w . F P E m a g . c o m Season / 2007

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sheet flow visualization and time-de-pendent temperature measurementswere performed.

Overall, the CFD simulations cap-tured many of the observed gross flowconditions.2 In some cases, details ofthe temperature field were also well-predicted. However, the simulationswere very sensitive to the wall heattransfer boundary condition. For ex-ample, the CFD simulations of hot gasflow in the horizontal and inclined tun-nel configurations tended to overpre-dict the measured temperature. Thisoverprediction is particularly pro-nounced with an adiabatic wallboundary condition. The CFD-pre-dicted flow behavior for the bookinghall configuration generally matchedthe experiments, but the temperatureswere too high as the smoke enteredthe booking hall. In the atrium config-uration, the simulated hot layer roseimmediately when i t entered theatrium while the experimental plumepropagated across the atrium androse along the far wall.

Sensitivity of the Results to KeyCFD Parameters

The sensitivity of the results to thefollowing CFD parameters was inves-tigated: grid resolution, convectiondiscretization scheme, compressibilityof the flow, inclusion of buoyancy ef-fects in the k-epsi lon turbulencemodel, volumetric heat source andeddy breakup combustion models,and boundary conditions of heattransfer at the walls. There was notenough time to make all of these sensi-tivity tests for all three scenarios, butsome general lessons learned werereadily apparent. Surprisingly, differ-ent grid resolutions did not lead to sig-nificant differences in smoke move-ment. This was because both sizegrids employed in these problemswere fine enough to capture ade-quately the key flow phenomena. Theuse of a high-order convection dis-

cretization scheme resulted in the pre-diction of more flow detail and a morerapid rate of smoke spread.

A Boussinesq approximation, used toaccount for the thermal effects of flowcompressibility, underpredicted the tem-peratures and the rate of smoke propa-gation when compared to calculatingthe air density from an equation of state.A standard k-epsilon turbulence modelalso failed to predict the correct behav-ior of the flow. When an additionalbuoyancy-related production term wasadded (so buoyancy terms existed inboth turbulence equations), the modelsuccessfully reproduced the features ofthe flow. A volumetric heat source modeland an eddy breakup combustionmodel both provided acceptable andsimilar results for smoke propagation.

However, a realistic prescription ofthe fire source was found to be crucialfor both models. Since a volumetricheat source model requires more as-sumptions than an eddy breakupmodel, the latter is likely to providemore realistic results where the fireshape is not well-defined initially ormay vary with time. The boundaryconditions for heat transfer at thewalls were found to have an impacton the transport of smoke, but this washighly dependent upon the scenario.They were more important for a con-fined fire and in the absence of forcedventilation.

Nathalie Gobeau is with the Healthand Safety Laboratory.

References1 Gobeau, N., et al., “Guidance for HSE Inspectors:Smoke movement in complex enclosed spaces andAssessment of Computational Fluid Dynamics,”HSL/2002/29, Health and Safety Laboratory, Buxton,UK, 2002. Available from http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/hsl_pdf/2002/hsl02-29.pdf. 2 Gobeau, N., Zhou, X.X. “Evaluation of CFD to predictsmoke movement in complex enclosed spaces -Application to three real scenarios: an undergroundstation, an offshore accommodation module and abuilding under construction” HSL CM/02/12, Healthand Science Laboratory, Buxton, UK, 2002.


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Worldwide, risk-informed and performance-basedanalyses are being introduced into fire protectionengineering practice, and the commercial nuclearpower industry is no exception. In the last 15 years,the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) di-

rected a change in its policy to use risk-informed methods, where prac-tical, to make regulatory decisions. As a result of this change, in thearea of fire protection, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)completed development of the 2001 edition of NFPA 805, “Perfor-mance-Based Standard for Fire Protection for Light-Water Reactor Elec-tric Generating Plants.”1 The NRC amended its fire protection require-ments in July 2004 to allow existing reactor licensees to voluntarilyadopt the fire protection requirements contained in NFPA 805 as an al-ternative to the existing prescriptive fire protection requirements.2 Thisallows plant operators and the NRC to use fire modeling and fire riskinformation, along with prescriptive requirements, to ensure that nu-clear power plants can be safely shut down in the event of a fire.

Fire Modeling in Nuclear Power Plant Regulation

B y M a r k H e n r y S a l l e y, P. E . ;

J a s o n D r e i s b a c h ;

K e n d r a H i l l ;

R o b e r t K a s s a w a r a , P h . D . ;

B i j a n N a j a f i ;

F r a n c i s c o J o g l a r , P h . D . , P. E . ;

A n t h o n y H a m i n s , P h . D . ;

K e v i n M c G r a t t a n , P h . D . ;

R i c h a r d P e a c o c k ; a n d

B e r n a r d G a u t i e r

How to Determine the Accuracyof Fire Models

Fire Modeling in Nuclear Power Plant Regulation

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an extensive verification and validation(V&V) study of fire models that supportthe use of NFPA 805 as a risk-in-formed/performance-based alternativewithin the NRC’s regulatory system.

The V&V Process

Given the complexity and range offeatures in current fire models, it is im-practical to evaluate the accuracy ofevery model output. Thus, the NRC andEPRI identified critical fire protectionconcerns for nuclear power plants,such as the integrity of electrical cablesand fire barriers, the effectiveness ofsmoke removal systems and the move-ment of smoke and hot gases fromcompartment to compartment. In all,13 predicted quantities were chosen,including the depth and average tem-perature of the hot upper layer, ceilingjet and plume temperatures, the radiant

and total heat flux onto walls and “tar-gets,” and the major gas species andsmoke concentrations.

The study does not cover the entirespectrum of possible fire scenarios, ei-ther in nuclear plants or in other typesof structures. To clarify its range of ap-plicability, the study examined a vari-ety of nondimensional and normal-ized parameters that bound thespectrum of scenarios it does coverand recommends that users of the re-port be aware that scenarios fallingoutside of these bounds have not beenrigorously validated. The final report3

includes a discussion of the limits ofapplicability of the results of the study.

Also, the validation study used theheat release rate of the experimentalfires as an input, rather than a pre-dicted output. The study provides anassessment of the accuracy of currentfire models in predicting the trans-

[ Veri f icat ion and Val idat ion – How to Determine the Accuracy of Fire Models ]

This article provides a brief descrip-tion of the work performed to assess therelative accuracy of fire models for nu-clear power plant applications. Eversince the 1975 Browns Ferry fire, therehas been a great deal of interest in pre-dicting the effects of fires in nuclearplants. The NRC and plant operatorsuse fire models in probabilistic risk as-sessment calculations to identify fire sce-narios with safety risks. They also usethese tools to determine compliancewith, or exemptions from, existing fireprotection regulatory requirements. Toprovide the regulator and the plant op-erators with confidence in the calcula-tion results, NFPA 805 requires firemodels to be verified and validated. Tothis end, the NRC’s Office of NuclearRegulatory Research, along with theElectric Power Research Institute (EPRI)and the National Institute of Standardsand Technology (NIST), has conducted

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port of a fire’s heat and combustionproducts throughout a compartment.While some of the models evaluateddo have the physical mechanisms topredict fire growth and spread (forexample, Fire Dynamics Simulator4),this study did not include an assess-ment of those functions. From the

standpoint of nuclear power plantsafety, it is important to assess howaccurately the models predict thetransport of energy from a specifiedfire, because that is how these mod-els are currently used in the nuclearindustry. A major finding of this studyis that the current generation of fire

models predict transport fairly well.This V&V study began in earnest in

2003, resulting in the seven-volumereport, “Verification and Validation ofSelected Fire Models for NuclearPower Plant Applications,”3 (NUREG-1824). The report is available to thepublic on the NRC’s Web si te(www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-col-lections/nuregs/staff/). Five of theseven volumes contain individualevaluations of five fire models: (1) theNRC Fire Dynamics Tools (FDTS),5 (2)the EPRI Fire-Induced VulnerabilityEvaluation (FIVE),6 (3) the NIST zonemodel Consolidated Fire And SmokeTransport (CFAST),7 (4) the Electricitéde France zone model MAGIC8 and(5) the NIST computational fluid dy-namics (CFD) model Fire DynamicsSimulator.4

Experimental Uncertainty as aMetric for Evaluating FireModels

NUREG-1824 is based uponASTM E1355, “Standard Guide forEvaluating the Predictive Capabilityof Deterministic Fire Models.”9 Theguide describes four steps in the eval-uation process for a given model: (1)definition of the model and scenarios,(2) assessment of the appropriatenessof the model’s theoretical basis andassumptions, (3) assessment of themathematical and numerical robust-ness and (4) quantification of the un-certainty and accuracy of the modelresults in predicting the course ofevents in similar fire scenarios.

It is this last step, model validation,on which the study focuses. This en-tails comparing model predictionswith full-scale fire experiments andquantifying the results. ASTM E1355provides some guidance for identify-ing and selecting experiments andmeasurements, but it does not defineexplicitly how the results should bequantified. A useful method to quanti-tatively evaluate the hundreds of point -to-point comparisons of predictionsand measurements arose through con-sideration of uncertainty in the experi-

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mental measurements. In selecting ex-periments for the model evaluations,an emphasis was placed on well-doc-umented uncertainties in both themeasurement of the 13 parameters ofinterest, and also the measurement ofmodel inputs, like material propertiesand the heat release rate of the fire.The combination of the experimentaluncertainty associated with both themodel input parameters and the meas-ured model outputs ser ved as abenchmark for evaluation of the mod-els. Photographs of a few of the se-lected experiments are shown in Fig-ure 1 and Figure 2.

An example of the process to deter-mine experimental uncertainty is as fol-lows: Suppose that the uncertainty in themeasurement of the heat release rate ofa fire was determined to be about 15percent. According to the McCaffrey,Quintiere, Harkleroad (MQH) correla-tion,10 the upper-layer gas temperaturerise in a compartment fire is propor-tional to the two-thirds power of the heatrelease rate. This means that the 15 per-cent uncertainty in the measured heat re-lease rate that is input into the fire mod-els leads to a 10 percent uncertainty inthe prediction of the upper layer temper-ature. Combining this with the uncer-tainty associated with the thermocoupletemperature measurement leads to acombined uncertainty in the reportedtemperature of about 13 percent. Inshort, the fire model cannot be shown tobe more accurate than about 13 per-cent. If all of the temperature predictionsfor the five models and 26 experimentsare plotted on a single graph, alongwith the combined experimental uncer-tainty as seen in Figure 3, a much betterpicture of model performance results. Insome sense, the experimental uncer-tainty provides the modeler with a verytangible goal – to predict the outcome ofa fire to within experimental accuracy.

How Accurate Are the Models?

To simplify the use of experimentaluncertainty as a metric for modelaccuracy, a simple color system wasdevised to indicate to what extent the


Figure 1. An experimentconducted in a largecompartment (7 m by 22 m by 4 m high) at NIST for the US NRCfire model validation study. A 2 MW heptane spray fire is seenthrough the open doorway, which was instrumented to measure thetemperature and velocity fields.Photograph by Anthony Hamins, NIST.

Figure 2. A heptane pan fireexperiment at VTT, Finland.

This experiment was conducted in alarge fire test hall with a ceiling heightof 19 m. Photograph courtesy of Simo

Hostikka, VTT.

Figure 3. Measured vs. Predicted Hot Gas Layer Temperature Rise.

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model predictions agreed with theexperimental measurements. “Green”was used to indicate that a particularmodel predicted a par t icularparameter with accuracy comparableto the experimental uncer tainty.“Yellow” indicated that the modelpredictions were clearly outside of theuncertainty bounds, indicating thatthe difference between model andexperiment could not be explainedsolely in terms of measurementuncertainty. In cases where the modelconsistently overpredicted the severityof the fire, a ranking of “yellow+” wasused to emphasize the point.

For example, the predicted averagehot gas layer temperature rise (deter-mined using a simple two-layer reduc-tion method3) from all the models wascompared to the experimental meas-urements (Figure 3). The hand calcula-tion methods showed the greatest devi-


ation and scatter when compared tothe measurements, and were rated“yellow+”. Both the zone and CFDmodels showed less scatter and verysimilar accuracy for the experimentsunder consideration, and all wereranked “green” for this parameter.

Next, the predicted heat fluxes ontovarious horizontally and vertically ori-ented targets were considered (Figure4). The CFD model, overall, was moreaccurate for this parameter, even thoughthe zone and CFD models are of compa-rable accuracy in predicting the gas tem-perature. Why is the CFD model moreaccurate in predicting heat flux? Theheat flux at a target is dependent on thethermal environment of the surround-ings, the details of which the CFD modelis inherently better able to predict. Handcalculations and zone models predictaverage temperatures over the entirecompartment, and thus are less accurate

in predicting a heat flux to a singlepoint. Nevertheless, all of the modelswere assessed as “yellow” for this cate-gory, merely to indicate to the modeluser that even though CFD might bemore accurate, it is still challenging topredict a heat flux, especially very closeto the fire, with any model.

Whereas the CFD model was moreaccurate in predicting heat fluxes andsurface temperatures, the simplermodels performed equally well, some-times better, for plume and ceiling jettemperatures and flame heights. Thereason is that hand calculations andtwo-zone models use well-establishedcorrelations for these fire phenomena.A CFD model solves the basic trans-port equations, making it truly predic-tive of these quantities, but not neces-sari ly more accurate. And theincreased cost of a CFD calculation issubstantial. The spreadsheet and two-


zone models produce results in seconds to minutes, versusa CFD model which takes hours to days. If hand calcula-tions and zone model results are obtained faster and areas or more accuracte than CFD results, why should an en-gineer use a CFD model? Real fire scenarios can be morecomplex than the experiments used in this study and maynot conform to the assumptions inherent in the hand calcu-lations and zone models. Fire plumes may not be free andclear of obstacles, because fires sometimes occur in cabi-nets or near walls. Ceilings might not be flat and unob-structed, because duct work, structural steel and cabletrays are often present. Although hand calculations andzone models can be applied in these instances, the resultsrequire more extensive explanation and justification.Since CFD models can make predictions on a more locallevel with fewer assumptions, the results are likely to bemore applicable in these more complex situations.

Mark Henry Salley, Jason Dreisbach and Kendra Hillare with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. (Thispaper was prepared in part by employees of the U.S.NRC. The views presented do not represent an officialstaff position.) Robert Kassawara is with the ElectricPower Research Institute. Bijan Najafi and FranciscoJoglar are with SAIC. Anthony Hamins, Kevin McGrattanand Richard Peacock are with the National Institute ofStandards and Technology. Bernard Gautier is with Elec-tricité de France.

References1 NFPA 805, “Performance-Based Standard for Fire Protection for Light-Water

Reactor Electric Generating Plants,” National Fire Protection Association,Quincy, MA, 2001.2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 10, “Energy,” Section 50.48, “Do-mestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities—Fire Protection,”Washington, DC, 2005.3 NUREG-1824 and EPRI 1011999, “Verification and Validation of SelectedFire Models for Nuclear Power Plant Applications,” Vols. 1-7, U.S. NuclearRegulatory Commission, Washington, DC and Electric Power Research Insti-tute, Palo Alto, CA, 2007.4 McGrattan, K. & Forney, G. “Fire Dynamics Simulator (Version 4) User’sGuide,” NIST Special Publication 1019. National Institute of Standards andTechnology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA, 2006.5 NUREG 1805, “Fire Dynamics Tools (FDTs): Quantitative Fire Hazard analy-sis Methods for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissions Fire Protection In-spection Program,” U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC,2004.6 EPRI TR-1002981, “Fire Modeling Guide for Nuclear Power Plant Applica-tions,” Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA, 2002.7 Jones, W., Peacock, R., Forney, G., and Reneke, P. “CFAST: An EngineeringTool for Estimating Fire and Smoke Transport, Version 5 – Technical ReferenceGuide,” SP 1030, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithers-burg, MD, 2004.8 Gay, L. & Epiard, C. “MAGIC Software Version 4.1.1: MathematicalModel,” EDF HI82/04/024/P, Electricité de France, 2005.9 ASTM E1355, “Standard Guide for Evaluating Predictive Capability of Deter-ministic Fire Models,” American Society for Testing and Materials, West Con-shohoken, PA, 2005.10 McCaffrey, B., Quintiere, J. & Harkleroad, M. “Estimating Room Fire Temper-atures and the Liklihood of Flashover Using Fire Test Data Correlations, “FireTechnology, 17, 2, pp. 98-119, 1981.


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New Zealand adopted perform-ance-based fire engineering in 1992with the inclusion in the NewZealand Building Code of qualitativeperformance requirements for lifesafety, protection of other propertyand facilities for firefighting. Accept-ance criteria and analysis methodsare not included in the regulations.There are prescriptive documentsavailable1 that are deemed to meetthe performance objectives, but theiruse is not compulsory.

For projects where fire safety de-sign solutions differ from the “deemedto satisfy” prescriptive solution andrely on performance-based design,there are risks of delay and nonap-proval. The risks are higher if the de-tails of the performance-based designhave not been identified and dis-cussed with the regulatory authoritiesearly in the design.

The Fire Engineering Brief (FEB)*process, outlined in the InternationalFire Engineering Guidelines,2 is gain-ing acceptance as the most effectivetool for minimizing risks during theregulatory approval of performance-based designs. This benefi t isachieved by outlining the approach tobe used in the detailed design in asmuch detail as possible.

This article describes how this FEBprocess was successfully used for ap-proval of a large atrium office build-ing in Auckland, New Zealand. Thebuilding was designed using a deter-ministic method of quantitative analy-sis as part of a performance-basedfire safety design.

Case Study: Sovereign Building

The Sovereign Building is a seven-story building constructed in Auck-land, New Zealand, which is usedpredominantly for offices. A basementcarpark is located below a podium inwhich there are tenant spaces for agymnasium and childcare facilities,

car parking and the entry to main of-fice levels on the floors above.

The main office floors extend fromthe first to the fifth floors, with a largecentral atrium connecting all five lev-els. This article focuses on the designfor the atrium office levels. This is oneof the first buildings of this scale inNew Zealand with large open-planoffice levels connected to an atrium,and this building is already setting atrend for new office developments inAuckland.

The architectural design arrangedthe office space into three main areas,all linked with bridges and stairs foreasy occupant movement betweenlevels. The three areas together pro-vide a floor area of approximately2000 m2 per level, which is used foropen-plan office space, meetingrooms and associated suppor tspaces. The largest plank is also punc-tuated with void spaces creating vi-sual links between levels.

Challenges for the Fire Safety Design

The architectural vision of an openatrium for the office area contrastswith the approach commonly used inNew Zealand to create barriers forcontainment of fire and smoke. It wasclear from the outset that the prescrip-tive solutions would not be suitable forthis project as they do not adequatelycover this kind of architectural design.Therefore, building code compliancefor the Sovereign Building was as-sessed using performance-based de-sign techniques, as this was the onlyway of determining with confidencethat this open-plan concept would sat-isfy the fire safety objectives whilekeeping the architect’s vision intact.The collaborative process of develop-ing a fire engineering brief was theobvious choice to address the risks as-sociated with regulatory approval.

The key challenges for the fire

safety design in this building arosefrom the open interconnection offloors to the atrium. Smoke from a firein any location in the building couldspread uncontrol led to al l levelsabove the floor where the fire is lo-cated, affecting all occupants more orless simultaneously and therefore re-quiring simultaneous evacuation of allfloors. This in turn places extra de-mand on the egress system capacity.

The aim of the design is to enableevacuation in a sufficiently short timefrom those parts of the building vulner-able to smoke spread before condi-tions in occupied areas reach unten-able limits.

The final solution was developedby coordinating solutions from a “firstprinciples” performance-based de-sign approach for the following inter-related subsystems:

• Determining occupant numbersand distribution using the ten-ant’s long- term occupancyplans, in addition to “deemed tosatisfy” occupant densities. Thisidentified critical occupant sce-narios, allowing for specific ten-ants’ needs such as large func-tions in the atrium.

• Designing the egress stairs withsufficient capacity to accommo-date simultaneous evacuation ofall occupants over five storiesand quantifying the time takenfor occupants at various levelsto reach a place of safety.

• Controlling the smoke spreadwith a combination of barriersaround void spaces and adja-cent to critical access paths tostairs, together with a smokecontrol system in the atrium.

• Modeling the extent of smokespread and the time at which un-tenable conditions are reachedin various locations for variousfire scenarios.

• Providing refuge areas for peo-ple with disabilities.

[ The Fire Engineering Brief: An Essent ial Tool for Regulator y Approval of Per formance-Based Design ]

* Editor’s note: The “Fire Engineering Brief” discussed in this article is identical to the “Fire Protection Engineering Design Brief” described in the SFPE Engineering Guide to Performance-Based Fire Protection.


• Providing good wayfinding, legi-bility of the escape routes andearly warning to occupants to fa-cilitate expeditious evacuation.

The safety provided by the egressand smoke control systems was estab-lished by computer modeling of occu-pant egress and smoke movement,and comparing available safe egresst ime (ASET) to the required safeegress time (RSET).

ASET was determined using Fire-Dynamics Simulator3 (FDS) to trackcritical tenability parameters, such asvisibility and temperature throughoutthe computational domain. A numberof design fires were modelled, assess-ing different worst-case fire locationsand sizes.

RSET was calculated using themethod outlined in BS 7974 – Part 64

with additional safety margins ap-plied to movement time. Occupantswere tracked until they entered aplace of safety, such as a smoke lobbyor fire-isolated stair.

Content of the Fire Engineering Brief

The New Zealand Building Coderequires fire protection engineeringdesign to ensure that three main ob-jectives are met:

1) Life safety in the event of a fire;2) Protection of other property

from the effect of fire (i.e., theneighbors’ buildings); and

3) Facilitation of firefighting. It doesnot include the protection of theowners’ or tenants’ property.

The FEB for the Sovereign Buildingproject included a description of thefire protection engineering designmethods and the performance criteriafor these three objectives, with astrong focus on life safety and meansof escape. In addition, it addressedproperty protection and business con-tinuity issues.

Two occupant scenarios and fivedesign fire scenarios were agreed

upon as the reasonable worst cases tobe analyzed in more detail during thedetailed design. One scenario wasthe day-to-day use of the building asan office building, with a design occu-pant density of approximately ninesquare meters per person. The secondscenario reflected the infrequent useof the atrium as a function space witha much higher occupant populationon the floor of the atrium and lower-than-usual occupant populations onthe office floors. The expected fre-quency of this second scenario waslimited to approximately 0.1 percentper year on average, or around 12hours per year.

All occupants were characterizedas awake, alert and able to evacuatewithout assistance.

Parameters for assessing smokedevelopment and spread, smoke con-trol, occupant egress, tenability lim-its, methods of calculation and analy-

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sis, structural stability and configura-tion of fire protection systems were alldiscussed and included in the FEB asa matter of record for building codeapproval.

Role of the Fire EngineeringBrief in Performance-BasedDesign

A significant degree of consensushas been established over the yearswith local councils (AHJs) for solvingcommon design problems where, forinstance, only a minor deviation fromthe prescriptive solution occurs. How-ever, for significant deviations fromthe prescriptive solutions, there is al-ways a risk that consent for construc-tion may not be granted without sub-stantial redesign after plans havebeen completed.

Fire protection engineering designfor large complex building projects in


New Zealand has often been carriedout using a Fire Engineering Briefprocess as described in the AustralianFire Engineering Guidelines,5 whichare now superseded by the Interna-tional Fire Engineering Guidelines.2

Encouraging a col laborativeprocess is the most important part ofdeveloping a FEB. This process ishelpful in addressing risks as early aspossible in the design phase, resolv-ing conflicting requirements andmaintaining support for, and owner-ship of, the final solution.

The importance of agreeing on theoverall design approach, the methods ofanalysis and associated acceptance cri-teria is obvious – the design solutionscannot be approved until agreement onthese factors is obtained. In addition toreviewing these factors, the FEB devel-opment included the following stake-

holder contributions to the FEB and theoverall design solution:

• The building owner was inter-ested in minimizing initial capi-tal cost, long-term maintenancecost and cost of fire damage tothe building. A limit on the futureincrease of occupants was iden-tified by the fire protection engi-neer in the design and was ac-cepted by the owner.

• The tenant wished to minimizethe effect of a fire on business in-terruption as well as the impactof fire safety features on the day-to-day operation of the building.Evacuation scenarios were re-viewed to minimize disruptionfrom potential false alarms. Oc-cupant and design fire scenar-ios were based on the long-termuse of the building and included

an allowance for above-aver-age fuel loads in the atrium forspecial occasions and higher-than- normal occupant popula-tions in the atrium for specialfunctions.

• The local council (AHJ) requireda thorough, robust review andapproval process. Agreementwas reached on alternative cer-tification methods for design ele-ments that did not formally com-ply with all aspects of relevantstandards.

• The peer reviewer, on behalf of the local council (AHJ), wasins t rumenta l in achiev ingagreement on the methods ofengineering assessment, theacceptance criteria and the rel-evant fire and occupant sce-narios that were assessed.



• The New Zealand Fire Servicewas involved in the selection oftheir attendance points, locationof fire control room, fire depart-ment connections, indicatorpanels and coordination of fire-fighting access. They also pro-vided valuable suggestions onperformance criteria for meansof escape and the selection ofthe most critical scenarios.

• Various other designers, includ-ing the architect and the build-ing services engineer, providedspecific requirements for inclu-sion in the Fire EngineeringBrief.

Peer Review and theRegulatory Approval Process

The ro le for the local counci l(AHJ) was not only to review the fi-nal design solution at the buildingconsent stage, but also was as stake-holders in the FEB developmentprocess to agree on the acceptabil-ity of the design, the calculationsand the analysis methods used todemonstrate building code compli-ance. This involvement occurredlong before the application for build-ing consent, which is much earlier inthe design process than is usual forthe council and was integral to thesuccess of the FEB process.

For regulatory approval, the coun-cil relied on the opinion of a qualifiedpeer reviewer and feedback from thefire service to ensure the performancetargets set out in the building codewere met.

The peer reviewer’s role was toprovide feedback during the FEB andbuilding consent stage, and to checkthat the design solution met the per-formance objectives of the buildingcode, based on the performance crite-ria developed in the FEB. When satis-fied with the overall fire safety design,the peer reviewer provided a state-ment to the council confirming theiracceptance.

Figure 1 (see page 52) summa-rizes the four steps of the building con-sent application for this example proj-ect, which is representative of largerprojects in New Zealand.

How This Fire Engineering BriefProcess Worked for theSovereign Building

The FEB document was introducedand discussed in a total of three two-hour meetings involving all the projectstakeholders. These meetings wereheld at approximately three-month in-tervals. Feedback on the FEB was pro-vided by all of the stakeholders duringthe meetings and in writing within thetwo weeks following the meeting.Amendments were incorporated intothe next version of the FEB, which wascirculated for further review prior tothe next meeting.

Design meetings were also held

Peter Harrod, P.E.Started as a project engineer withRJA/Boston after receiving his MSdegree in Fire Protection Engineeringfrom Worcester Polytechnic Institute.Became a senior consultant as theresult of his work in providingintegrated fire protection solutionsfor leading universities such as MIT,Harvard, and Boston College. Nowworks with RJA’s most importantclients as a regional businessdevelopment manager. Greatperformance, fast promotion.

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separately with other consultants (ar-chitects, building services engineersand tenants) to advance the design.Outcomes from many of these meet-ings affected details of the FEB and thedesign solution developed at that time.

The preferred building contractorattended the last FEB meeting. Theirconcerns regarding regulatory ap-proval for specifically engineered firesafety systems were incorporated intothe FEB.

The final FEB document was ac-cepted by all stakeholders prior to ap-plying for building consent and waswelcomed by the contributing partiesas a very successful and worthwhileeffort.

The approval process for the build-ing consent stage was relativelysmooth, considering that “first princi-ples” performance-based design wasapplied without any reference to“deemed to satisfy” documentation.

52 Fire Protection Engineering w w w . F P E m a g . c o m Season / 2007

Instead of following prescriptive stan-dards, a number of systems needed tobe specifically engineered to fit theFire Engineering Brief developed forthis project. If there had not been in-put and ownership of the overall solu-tion from the stakeholders, it is likelythat some of these variations wouldhave been major obstacles to regula-tory approval. Concerns and con-tributing ideas to solve these potentialproblems were provided early in thedesig process.

This success is the resul t of aprocess in which all stakeholders hadthe opportunity to state their require-ments so that they could easily be in-cluded in development of the design.This gave them a sense of ownershipof the overall design and an interest in

achieving the vision for the designcontained in the FEB.

Martin Feeney and Judith Schultzare with Holmes Fire & Safety.

References1 Building Industry Authority, Acceptable Solution for FireSafety, C/AS1, Department of Building & Housing,Wellington, New Zealand, October 2005.2 Australian Building Codes Board, International FireEngineering Guidelines, Australia, 2005.3 McGrattan, K. & Forney, G. “Fire Dynamics Simulator(Version 4) User’s Guide,” NIST Special Publication1019, National Institute of Standards and Technology,Gaithersburg, MD, USA, 2006.4 PD 7974-6, ‘The application of fire safety engineeringprinciples to fire safety design of buildings – Part 6:Human factors: Life safety strategies – Occupantevacuation, behaviour and condition (Sub-system 6)’,British Standards Institute, London, 2004.5 Fire Code Reform Centre, Fire Engineering DesignGuidelines, Australian Building Codes Board, Australia,1996.


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If one walks into a local diner andasks for directions to the nearestpost office, they will get lots of sug-gestions. Many will be different,and some may even be incorrect.

Which path should they choose? Thisis an analogy that applies well to fireprotection. Identifying the codes andstandards that might apply to a partic-ular project is only part of the chal-lenge. The practicing engineer mustalso identify the many AuthoritiesHaving Jurisdiction (AHJs) and theirroles and relative ranks on specificprojects. Engineers should also under-stand the interdependency, balanceand coordination among relatedcodes and standards. Often, there aremultiple paths or options in the codes

and standards that ultimately lead tothe desired goals.

Who or what is an AHJ? The Na-tional Fire Protection Association de-fines the AHJ as “An organization, of-fice or individual responsible forenforcing the requirements of a codeor standard, or for approving equip-ment, materials, an installation or aprocedure.”1 On any one project,there may be many different AHJs –the owner, architect, engineer, build-ing official, fire official, insurancecompany, etc. Identifying the manyAHJs on a project is important be-cause each may impose different re-quirements. While there may be aclearly defined set of legally adopted

state or local codes and standards,there may be several other codes andstandards imposed by other AHJs –corporate policies and standards, in-surance company standards, localfire department requirements, etc.

With respect to codes and stan-dards, in many jurisdictions it all startswith a law. The law might simply em-power an agency or office (AHJ) towrite a regulation. For building con-struction, the law might be passed bya state legislature requiring a stateagency to write, adopt or administera building code. For fire protection,the law might empower the state firemarshal to write, adopt or administera fire code.

Codes andStandards andAHJs – Oh, My!


Building codes and fire codesboth require certain features offire prevention and fire protec-tion. Typically, a building codewill apply to new construction, in-cluding alterations or renovations.Fire codes often contain requirementsfor fire prevention, licensing require-ments, regulations and permitting requirements for specific occupanciesand uses. Fire codes typically alsocontain requirements for the mainte-nance and use of fire protection sys-tems or features installed pursuant tothe building code, fire code or for anyother reason. They also refer backto the building code for any newconstruction, alteration or renova-tion and may specify conditionswhere fire protection systems orfeatures must be upgraded or retro-fitted even if the building had beenconstructed and approved under apast building code that did not re-quire those features. An examplemight be the retrofitting of all high-rise residential properties with au-tomatic sprinklers by a certaindate.

Although building codes andfire codes might require certain fireprotection systems such as fire barri-ers and fire doors, automatic sprin-klers or fire detection and alarm sys-tems, they typically do not list thespecific application, design, installa-tion, location and performance re-quirements. Instead, they refer or re-quire compliance with specific partsof standards. For example, a buildingcode might require that a certain oc-cupancy or use group have a firealarm system with smoke detection inthe corridors and exits, and occupantnotification throughout. It might fur-ther specify that the occupant notifica-tion use audible appliances through-out, with visible appliances in thecorridors. The building code would re-quire that the smoke detection and oc-cupant notification be designed, in-stalled and tested in accordance withNFPA 72, The National Fire Alarm

Code.2

Although the title of NFPA 72includes the word “code,” in the con-text of this article it is actually a stan-dard. Similarly, a building code mightrequire a building to be protectedthroughout by a complete automaticsprinkler system in accordance withNFPA 13, Standard for the Installationof Sprinkler Systems.

3The code might

require that the NFPA 13 sprinkler sys-

tem be monitored by a supervisingstation fire alarm system in accor-dance with NFPA 72. In that case,there is no code path that requiresother fire alarm features such as occu-pant notification or duct smoke detec-tors. Codes specify what and where,while standards say how.

Standards contain requirementsconcerning the application, design,installation and location of the fireprotection systems or features re-quired by the codes. For example,where a building code requires com-plete automatic sprinkler protection,under certain circumstances NFPA 13does not require sprinklers at the topand in the pit of elevator hoistways.Where a code requires automatic

smoke detection, NFPA 72 de-fines the spacing and coveragerequirements. Similarly, audibleoccupant notification requiredby a building or fire code must

have a certain decibel level specifiedby NFPA 72. Any required strobeswould have an intensity and spacingas specified in NFPA 72.

Where a building or fire code re-quires sprinklers, there is an expecta-tion that they will suppress a fire.Smoke detectors may be required toensure a minimum available safe

egress time. The codes have a cer-tain expectation of system perform-ance. To achieve these results re-quires compliance with certainapplication, design, installationand location requirements con-tained in the applicable systemstandards. But that’s not all. Toachieve an expected level of sys-tem performance, the system stan-dards are based on an expectedlevel of component performanceand reliability. The system stan-dards have an expectation that theequipment or components will per-form in a certain way. In somecases, certain equipment perform-

ance requirements may be containedin the system standard itself. But formost equipment and components,there exists another standard – theproduct or equipment standard.

These three codes and standardsare dependant upon each other. SeeFigure 1.

For example, a building code mayrequire occupant notification by audi-ble appliances. The system standard(NFPA 72) may then require that thesystem provide 15 dBA above the av-erage ambient noise level in thespaces required by the code to haveoccupant notification. To achieve thatlevel of system performance, the de-signer must space audible appliancesthat have a certain rated output – 84dBA at 10 ft (3 m), for example –

Codes

System

StandardsProduct

Standards

Figure 1. Interdependency of Codesand Standards.


based upon testing to a certain prod-uct standard (UL 464

4).

Similarly, a code may requiresmoke detection in certain spaces inorder to achieve occupant and emer-gency forces noti f ication earlyenough to ensure safe egress of theoccupants and manual suppressionby responding firefighters. The systemstandard (NFPA 72) specifies thespacing of individual smoke detectorsin order to achieve the expected per-formance of smoke detection. How-ever, the individual smoke detector re-sponse or sensitivity is based uponperformance requirements specifiedin the product standard (UL 268

5). If

the individual smoke detectors are sig-nificantly less sensitive than normallypermitted by the product standard,then they must be spaced closer than

normally permitted by the system stan-dard if they are to achieve the samelevel of performance. A sensitivity thatis different than that normally permit-ted by the system standard may bepermitted under a “special listing” oras part of a performance-based de-sign. Alternately, the code might per-mit a slower response if other protec-tion features are added as mitigation– such as automatic suppression,smaller fire zones, greater barrier rat-ings, etc.

In other words, if one of the triadshown in Figure 1 shortens, one orboth of the other elements mustchange to maintain balance. Thechallenge to fire protection engineersis to first identify the AHJ and the ap-plicable codes and standards, and torecognize the interdependencyamong them. To design creative, cost-

effective solutions, the fire protectionengineer (FPE) must thoroughly under-stand the relationships and balancebetween the codes and standards,and be able to effectively communi-cate these to owners and AHJs. In ad-dition, the FPE needs the tools, expert-ise and knowledge to measure, modelor estimate system performance in or-der to assess the impact of proposedchanges and to ensure acceptableperformance. 1 NFPA Glossary of Terms, National Fire Protection

Association, Quincy, MA, 2005. 2 NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm Code, National FireProtection Association, Quincy, MA, 2006.3 NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of SprinklerSystems, National Fire Protection Association, Quincy,MA, 2006.4 U.L. 464, Standard for Audible Signal Appliances,Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., Northbrook, IL, 2003.5 U.L. 268, Standard for Smoke Detectors for Fire AlarmSignaling Systems, Underwriters Laboratories, Inc.,Northbrook, IL, 2006.

[ Codes and Standards and AHJs – Oh, My! ]

BRAINTEASERS >

[ ]The distance from Washington D.C.

(Dulles) and Paris, France (Charles de

Gaulle) is 6,200 kilometers. A Boeing

777 makes the flight from Washington to

Paris in 7 hours, 23 minutes. The return flight

takes 8 hours, 34 minutes. If the two flights

take the same path, and the wind blows in

the same direction during both flights, what

is the average airspeed of the plane and the

average wind velocity in the direction

parallel to the planes’ travel?

P r o b l e m / S o l u t i o n

Eight people have dinner seated at a single table.How many possible seating arrangements are there?

The number of arrangements of n items into rgroups can be expressed as:

This is also known as the number of permutationsof n items taken r at a time.

Substituting n = 8 and r = 8, the result is:

P r o b l e m Solution to Last Issue’s Brainteaser

n!(n—r )!

8!(8—8)! = 40,320 possible seating arrangements.

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Six courses are available.

The Society of Fire Protection Engineerswill offer distance learning programs in a

Web-based format. These carefully chosencourses have been developed with supportfrom the U.S. Department of Homeland Secu-rity. The 24/7 Web-based format gives eachstudent the opportunity to learn at their ownpace and reference the instruction materialsfor several months using any computer with Internet access.

The subjects chosen are geared to the needsof the fire service, code officials and other firesafety professionals. Every participant whocompletes the entire course will receive a cer-tificate and Continuing Educational Units(CEUs). All courses are equivalent to a one-dayclassroom seminar unless otherwise noted.

2006-2007 CoursesFire Alarm Systems for the Fire Service/Fire Prevention Officer —$99.00 [0.80 CEU] This Web-based seminar was designed specifically to provide fire service, fire pre-vention personnel and others with a basic level of understanding of fire alarm sys-tems. The course describes the types of fire alarm systems and the basic compo-nents that make up a code-compliant fire alarm system. Basic installationinstructions will be described along with important factors to be considered in thedesign and construction process.

Sprinkler Systems for the Fire Service/ Fire Prevention Officer —$99.00 [0.80 CEU]This Web-based course provides fire service, fire prevention personnel and oth-ers with a basic level of understanding of fire sprinkler systems. The course de-scribes the types of sprinkler systems and the basic components that make up acode-compliant sprinkler system. In addition, this seminar will discuss how toevaluate water supplies and hydraulic calculations for sprinkler systems.

Code Official’s Guide to Performance-Based Design — $99.00[0.80 CEU]This course was designed to provide guidance on how to evaluate the adequacy of a per-formance-based fire protection design. It will provide an introduction into the performance-based design process and define the roles of major stakeholders that may be involved witha performance-based design. An overview of fire dynamics and the strategies used by en-gineers will be discussed.

Human Behavior in Fire — $99.00 [0.80 CEU]This seminar identifies and reviews the key factors and considerations that im-pact the response and behavior of occupants evacuating a building during afire. It describes how key occupant characteristics and cognitive functions affecthow a person behaves during a fire. Participants will also learn how to designfor the evacuation of occupants with disabilities, evacuation procedures andsome alternatives to evacuation.

Principles of Structural Fire Protection — $99.00 [0.80 CEU]This seminar provides a basic understanding of how structural elements are pro-tected from fire. Participants will learn about fire resistance and standard testsused to determine fire resistance of structural members. Students will explore theproperties of steel, masonry, concrete and timber, and how elevated tempera-tures affect these materials. Additionally, participants will learn the principal fac-tors used to determine fire resistance.

Principles of Fire Protection Engineering — $149.00 [3.20 CEUs] This Web-based instruction is equivalent to a four-day classroom seminar. It providesa basic overview of the principles of fire protection engineering. The following top-ics are discussed: combustion and ignition phenomenan, fire endurance evaluation,construction and structural features, materials application, fire protection designevaluation, life risk analysis, detection and alarm systems, sprinkler system develop-ments, design of water suppression systems, and egress and exits.

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Class Description: Prepare for the 2007 Fire Protection Engineering PE Exam from wherever you can access the In-ternet – your home, office or even your hotel room whiletraveling. This effective, online review class will help you organize and navigate through the massive amount of refer-ence material.

Each session is taught live by an expert instructor using advanced Web conferencing technology. You will work witha live instructor over several weeks and can ask questions asthey arise throughout the review period.

Revised to meet the current NCEES exam specifications,this course is an excellent exam preparation tool. The 14 live1.5-hour sessions allow for maximum retention.

Who Should Attend? Anyone preparing for the PE Exam!Even if you are not taking the exam this year but want to as-sess your readiness for a future exam, this course is for you.

The course is also an excellent refresher for existing engi-neers, fire marshals, loss control specialists and anyone elsewho needs to understand the principles of fire protection engineering.

Topics Include:• Exam Preparation & Exam-Taking Strategies• Fire Protection Analysis• Fire Protection Management• Human Behavior• Fire Dynamics• Fire Protection Systems• Fire Alarm Systems• Smoke Management• Explosion Protection• Passive Building Systems

Enrollment Fee: $1,150 Member OR$1,295 Nonmember

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Mark your calendars for the 2007 SFPE Professional Devel-opment Conference and Exposition being held in Las Vegas,NV. This year’s event will feature a new two-day format high-lighting cutting-edge presentations on advanced practices infire protection engineering.

Leading the conference with keynote presentationsare: Dr. John L. Bryan, USA • Dr. Charles Fleischmann, NewZealand • Dr. Jose L. Torero, United Kingdom • Dr. Kevin B.McGrattan, USA • Ronny J. Coleman, USA

Following the conference is the Exposition and a series ofseminars taught by the profession’s leaders.

Seminars to be held are: Egress Modeling – Principlesand Applications; Advanced Fire Dynamics Simulator andSmokeview; Advanced Fire Alarm Systems Design; Introduc-tion to Fire Risk Assessment; Introduction to Industrial Fire Pro-tection Engineering; Principles of Fire Protection Engineering;Smoke Control; and Sprinkler Design for the Engineer.

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As the newest addition to Reliable’s sprinklerline, the N252 EC, with a K factor of 25.2,is a density/area sprinkler that can provide

coverage up to 196 sq. ft. and spacings up to 14 ft. x 14 ft. for storage and extra-hazard applica-tions. They are UL-listed for use in NFPA 13 appli-cations for obstructed, noncombustible construction.The N252 EC sprinkler can be used for “big box”applications if the systems are designed underNFPA 13, 2002, paragraph 12.7.2 requirements.

The N252 EC can be installed in the pendentposition, directly on the line-piping of an exposedwet-pipe system. This eliminates the need for spring-

ups, if using an upright on piping larger than 2-1/2 in.Pendent sprinklers can also be installed with hangers 6 in.or less in length, thus eliminating the need for seismic brac-ing on the line-piping.

The N252 EC Pendent Sprinkler by ReliableAn Extended-Coverage, Control-Mode Storage & Extra-Hazard Sprinkler

CA

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STU

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S P E C I A L A D V E R T I S I N G S E C T I O N

VIKING ELECTRONIC SERVICES


include the capability for detectors from one panel to initi-ate releasing from another panel. The system is UL-listedand FM-approved; CSFM approval is pending.

eLAN systems can be accessed by authorized users fromanywhere, via the Internet, using only Microsoft’s InternetExplorer Web browser. System programming, statusreports, service scheduling, testing and other features areavailable at any time. Reports are generated “on the fly” inone easy-to-read Web page on the user’s browser.

One of the industry’s first Microsoft Certified Developers,Viking Electronic Services’ eLAN Fire Alarm Systems areavailable through the company’s network of authorizeddealers.

Specifiers, get in touch with us to learn more about thevalue and protection offered by the eLAN Fire AlarmSystem - and get a free lunch! For information, or to learnabout becoming an authorized dealer, call VikingElectronic Services now at 800.274.9509; [email protected]; or visit www.vikingservnet.com.

Viking Electronic ServicesA Division of Viking Group620 Allendale Rd., Suite 175King of Prussia, PA 19406800.274.9509www.vikingservnet.com

You won’t settle for partial protection, and neither willViking Electronic Services.Now, with the addition of its new networked releasing

capabilities to the eLAN Fire Alarm System, VikingElectronic Services enhances the single fire alarm systemyou and your clients can depend on.

Based on proven Internet and IP-networking technolo-gies, eLAN Fire Alarm Systems are currently protecting var-ious sites including retail, power plants, schools, culturalinstitutions, military bases and multi-family units. The system is ideal for medium to large projects, ranging from50 to over 100,000 points of protection.

“By integrating releasing with the building’s fire alarmsystem, the eLAN system eliminates the need for a sepa-rate releasing panel and provides enhanced status infor-mation on the releasing functions to the fire alarm systemmonitoring center,” says William Larrabee, president ofViking Electronic Services.

eLAN releasing is suitable for pre-action, FM200 anddeluge systems, and its intuitive networking features

Viking Electronic Services Enhances Comprehensive Detection

D E P E N D O N L I F E L I N E ® TOP R OT EC T C R I T I C A L C I R C U I T S

Support emergency evacuation and crisis control with qualified fire rated

critical circuit cables. Lifeline cables will protect power, communications

and notification circuits against attack by fire or physical damage providing

real time system operation during evacuation and crisis resolution.

Lifeline products are manufactured with ceramification technology to produce

two hour fire rated cables qualified to the most demanding standards. This results

in the best and most economical method of protecting critical circuits against

attack by fire and physical damage. Lifeline is your solution for high risk locations

(for example dormitories, high rises, health care facilities, places of assembly and

underground transits), and for your essential building functions when

Failure is Not an Option.

For more details and an informative fact sheet,plus video of the UL burn test, visit

www.drakausa.com/lifelineor call your Lifeline Representative

800-333-4248 ext 2600

Draka Cableteq USA • 800.333.4248 ext.2600 • www.drakausa.com/lifeline

• Code Compliant

• RoHS Compliant

• UL/CSA/ULCApproved


PRODUCTS / LITERATURE >>>

White Paper on UL 864 Ninth EditionNOTIFIER has produced awhite paper entitled, “UL864 Ninth Edition: The NewStandard in Fire Protection.”Changes to UL 864 will takeeffect on June 30, 2007,and will require fire alarm manufacturers to redesign or update a signif-icant portion of their product lines. It applies solely to fire alarm equip-ment, so it will have no effect on how systems are installed. It will, how-ever, be a springboard for better, safer fire alarm products. Downloadthe white paper at www.notifier.com.www.not i f ier. com–NOTIFIER

Flexible Pipe LoopAnvilStar™ announces the new flexibleTri-Flex Loop®, designed to move inde-pendently from the building, protectingfire protection systems during story drift.It simultaneously absorbs and compen-sates for pipe movements in six degreesof freedom – three coordinate axes, plusrotation about those axes simultaneously.Designed to provide a wider range of installation options, whether fornew construction or renovation, and specially designed to withstandlarge and irregular movements such as seismic activities.www.anvi l in t l . com–AnvilStar™

Marine Fire SuppressionSea-Fire’s Fire Control Panel with FireStop technology is an integratedfire suppression management systemdesigned for modern marine vessels.A modular and expandable system,it provides intuitive operation andmonitors cylinder pressure, fire,heat, smoke and carbon monoxidefor early detection. Programmablefor up to eight specified onboard devices,including engines, generators and ventilationsystems.www.sea- f i re . com–Sea-Fire Marine

Viking Offers CPVC Fire Sprinkler PipeThe Viking Group announces the creation of Viking Plastics, a newbusiness unit dedicated to producing CPVC fire sprinkler pipe.Viking CPVC pipe is produced from BlazeMaster® compoundsand is another addition to the company’s Freedom® residentialfire protection package. With its inherent corrosion resistance,ease of installation and superior flow characteristics, Viking CPVCpipe can lower the installed cost of a fire sprinkler system in bothresidential and commercial applications.www.vik inggroupinc .com–The Viking Group

1 3

42

Z2100/3000/3004 Series

Automatic Control Valves

ZW4004Series

ZW4000Series

Time is precious, especially in fire prevention. Why waste

even a moment cutting a valve out of line? The ZW4000 and

the ZW4004 are fully servicable in-line and made in the USA.

Factory set to your specifications, rated up to 400 psi inlet

pressure and available in 2 1/2” size. Service your valves

in-line to save time and money with the new Pressure-Tru

Series. Only from Wilkins.

Call for more information. Customer Service Representatives

are available Monday - Friday 6:00 am to 5:00 pm PST at

877-222-5356 or 805-226-6297

And save timestay in-line

1747 Commerce Way, Paso Robles CA 93446

WITH THE NEW PRESSURE-TRU SERIES from wilkins

See our complete line of Wilkins fire valves at www.zurn.com

ZW4004 Automatic Fire Control Valve• Open-close indicating feature

• Designed for flows up to 500GPM

• 2 1/2” Female NPT grooved inlet

and outlet connections

• Available in angle or in-line

(globe) configurations

• In-line serviceable

• Available in rough chrome finish

ZW4000 Fire Hose Valve• Features female NPT grooved

inlet x male hose thread outlet

• In-line serviceable

• Available in angle or in-line

(globe) configurations

• Special hose threads available

as an option

• Check with factory for

approvals and availability


AGF Manufacturing, Inc. .......................................36Ames Fire & Waterworks ......................................37Ansul Incorporated................................................29Anvil International ................................................41Blazemaster Fire Sprinkler Systems/NOVEON .......24Chemtron..............................................................25Clarke Fire Protection ............................................32Containment Solutions, Inc. ...................................64Draka Cableteq USA .............................................65DuPont .................................................................15Fike Corporation ...................................................33FlexHead Industries...............................................35Gamewell/FCI.......................................................39Gast .....................................................................44General Air Products.............................................43GE Security......................................................30-31Grice ....................................................................38HALOTRON/American Pacific Corp. ......................18Harrington Signal .................................................26Honeywell Notifier ................................................53Hughes Associates, Inc. .....................................9, 62Keltron .................................................................59Koffel Associates, Inc............................................IBCNFPA ....................................................................62Potter Electric Signal Company ................................3

Protectowire Company, Inc. .............................55, 63Reliable Automatic Sprinkler ...........................21, 63Rolf Jensen & Associates, Inc.....................47, 49, 51Safety Technology International, Inc. ......................52SFPE Job Board.....................................................54SimplexGrinnell ....................................................IFCSmoke & Fire Prevention .......................................14System Sensor ........................................................7Tyco Fire & Building Products ..............................OBCTyco Thermal Controls .............................................5University of Maryland .........................................28Victaulic Company of America.........................13, 45Viking Electronic Services .................................17,64Viking Group........................................................27Wheelock .............................................................19Wilkins/Zurn ........................................................67Worchester Polytechnic Institute .............................50Xerxes Corporation...............................................42

I n d ex o f A d v e r t i s e r s

Fire Protection Engineering (ISSN 1524-900X) is published quarterly by the Society of Fire ProtectionEngineers (SFPE). The mission of Fire ProtectionEngineering is to advance the practice of fire protec-tion engineering and to raise its visibility by providinginformation to fire protection engineers and allied pro-fessionals. The opinions and positions stated are theauthors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of SFPE.

Editorial Advisory Board

Carl F. Baldassarra, P.E., FSFPESchirmer Engineering Corporation

Don Bathurst, P.E.

Bob Boyer, Edwards Systems Technology

Thomas C. Brown, P.E., Rolf Jensen & Associates

Russell P. Fleming, P.E., FSFPENational Fire Sprinkler Association

Morgan J. Hurley, P.E., Society of Fire Protection Engineers

William E. Koffel, P.E., FSFPE Koffel Associates

Jane I. Lataille, P.E., FSFPE Los Alamos National Laboratory

Margaret Law, M.B.E., FSFPE Arup Fire

Edward Prendergast, P.E., Chicago Fire Dept. (Ret.)

Warren G. Stocker, Jr., Safeway, Inc.

Beth Tubbs, P.E., International Code Council

Personnel

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SFPEDavid Evans, P.E., FSFPE

TECHNICAL EDITOR

Morgan J. Hurley, P.E., Technical Director, SFPE

PUBLISHER

Joe Pulizzi, Penton Custom Media

ACCOUNT MANAGER

Jillian Lewis, Penton Custom Media

ACCOUNT COORDINATOR

Christy Barksdale, Penton Custom Media

ART DIRECTOR

Lisa DiPaolo, Penton Custom Media

MEDIA SERVICES MANAGER

Susan Durishin, Penton Custom Media

COVER DESIGN

Dave Bosak, Penton Custom Media

Corporate 100 members in red

HEADQUARTERSJOE PULIZZI Publisher

1300 East 9th StreetCleveland, OH 44114-1503216.696.7000, ext. 9566fax [email protected]

NORTHEASTTOM CORCORAN District Manager

1507 East Woodbank WayWest Chester, PA 19380610.696.1820fax [email protected]

NORTH CENTRAL/SOUTHEASTJOE DAHLHEIMER District Manager745 Damon DriveMedina, OH 44256330.289.0269fax [email protected]

CENTRAL/WESTWAYNE BAYLISS District Manager

234 24th PlaceCosta Mesa, CA 92627949.701.1437fax [email protected]

Sa l e s O f f i c e sSa l e s O f f i c e sSa l e s O f f i c e s

>>>

To purchase software or for additionalinformation on the SprinkCAD

Software Suite, visit our website at www.sprinkcad.com

For FREE Demonstration Software or Technical Support call 800-495-5541.

SOFTWARE FOR THE FIRE PROTECTION DESIGN

PROFESSIONAL

Design fire sprinklers systems built upon the CAD graphics program.

Develop user-friendly hydraulic calculation programs.

Formulate estimates using an interactive NFPA® 13 code selector program.

Calculate dry type systems per NFPA® requirements.

Accurately determine “PIPE ON THE JOB”.

fire protection engineers regulatory and the process...issue no.34 the official magazine of the...

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