Fire Performance Analysis for Buildings

A building fire is dynamic. A continually changing hostile fire environment influences time relationships that affect fire defenses and risks to people and building functions. The fire and fire defenses in each building interact with different sequences and distinct ways. Risks are characterized by the building’s performance.

Significantly updated and restructured new edition

Fire Performance Analysis for Buildings, 2^nd Edition organizes the complex interactions into an analytical framework to evaluate any building - at any location - built under any regulatory jurisdiction or era. Systematic, logical procedures evaluate individual component behavior and integrate results to understand holistic performance. The Interactive Performance Information (IPI) chart structures complex time-related interactions among the fire, fire defenses, and associated risks. Quantification uses state-of-the-art deterministic methods of fire safety engineering and fire science. Managing uncertainty is specifically addressed.

Key features:

• Emphasizes fire performance analysis for new or existing buildings.
• Augments fire dynamics calculation methods with qualitative methods to form a more complete understanding of the effects of hostile fire characteristics on building performance.
• Describes fire ground operations for engineers with no fire service experience. An analysis evaluates ways the site and building design help or hinder manual fire suppression.
• Establishes a transition from traditional structural requirements to modern calculation based structural analysis and design for fire conditions. Structural concepts are described for non-structural engineers to enable the roles of each profession to be integrated into comprehensive performance evaluations.  
• Addresses techniques of managing uncertainty to improve understanding and communication with professionals of other disciplines.
• Describes methods of risk management using information from the building’s performance analysis.

Fire Performance Analysis for Buildings, 2^nd Edition has been completely restructured around a performance based framework. Applications integrate traditional fire defenses with fire science and engineering to combine component performance with holistic performance.

Robert W. Fitzgerald, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, USA
Brian J. Meacham, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, USA

Preface xxiii

Acknowledgements xxv

1 Fire Performance and Buildings 1

2 Preliminary Organization 9

3 Tools of Analysis 31

4 An Introduction to the Interactive Performance Information Chart 59

5 Quantification 73

Part II The Parts 79

6 The Room Fire 81

7 The Room Fire: Qualitative Analysis 119

8 Beyond the Room of Origin 147

9 Smoke Analysis 175

10 The Diagnostic Fire 191

11 Fire Detection 193

12 Alarm: Actions After Detection 203

13 Fire Department Extinguishment: Arrival 219

14 Fire Department Extinguishment: First Water (MA) 237

15 Fire Department Extinguishment: Control and Extinguishment 295

16 Automatic Sprinkler Suppression 305

17 The Composite Fire 325

18 Materials, Codes, Standards, Practices, and Performance 331

19 Concepts in Structural Analysis for Fire Conditions 365

20 Target Spaces and Smoke 401

21 Life Safety 411

22 Risk Characterizations 417

23 Fire Prevention 435

Part III The Analysis 449

24 Fire Performance: Framework for Analysis 451

25 The Diagnostic Fire 455

26 Fire Detection 463

27 Fire Department Notification 475

28 Fire Department Extinguishment 483

29 Automatic Sprinkler Suppression 501

30 The Composite Fire 517

31 Structural Performance 521

32 Target Space Smoke Analysis 525

33 Life Safety Analysis 531

34 Prevent Established Burning 541

Part IV Managing Uncertainty 555

35 Understanding Uncertainty 557

36 Visual Thinking 581

37 Introduction to Risk Management 597

38 Analytical Foundations 615

Appendix A Organizational Structure 637

A.1 The Organizational Framework 637

A.2 Basic Organization 637

A.3 The Composite Fire 637

A.4 The Diagnostic Fire (Î) 639

A.5 Fire Department Manual Extinguishment 640

A.6 Detection 640

A.7 Notification 642

A.8 Notification to Arrival 643

A.9 Arrival to Extinguishment 645

A.10 Automatic Sprinkler System 646

A.11 Building Response: Structural Behavior 647

A.12 Building Response: Space Tenability 648

A.13 Risk Characterizations 648

A.14 Occupant Movement 650

A.15 Other Risks 651

A.16 Prevent Established Burning (EB): Occupant Extinguishment 651

A.17 Prevent EB: Special Hazards Protection 653

A.18 Closure 653

Appendix B Model Building 655

Description 655

Plans 655

Index 661

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