Quantification of Green Building Features on...
Transcript of Quantification of Green Building Features on...
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 1
Meacham, 2017
Quantification of Green Building Features on Firefighter Safety
Presented by:
Praveen Kamath, WPI
Brian Meacham, WPI
Michael Gollner, UMD
2017 NFPA Conference & Expo
Handout Material – Selected Presentation Slides
Meacham, 2017
• Brief overview of project and Year 1 and 2 research and outcomes
• Overview of Year 3 (and 4) research and outcomes
— Natural ventilation
— Structural performance of domestic systems
— Comparative risk assessment tool
• Potential implications / considerations for the fire service
• Future research needs
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 2
Meacham, 2017
• The goal of this effort is to reduce firefighter injuries and deaths associated with unknown or unanticipated fire environments and structural responses associated with green building elements.
• Our objectives are to understand, quantify and address fire performance challenges of green building elements as they might impact firefighter safety during fire ground operations.
Meacham, 2017
• The push to ‘green’ buildings is growing. This can include reducing building materials, adding insulation, and installing alternative energy sources.
• However, the extent to which such green building elements and features may increase fire risks or hazards, or decrease building safety performance, has not been systematically studied.
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 3
Meacham, 2017
• 22 Fire Risk / Hazard Attributes— Presents a potential hazard
• E.g., ignition, electrical shock, explosion, toxicity
— Hazard attributes • E.g., readily ignitable, burns readily once ignited,
contributes more fuel / increased HRR, etc.
— Failure potential • E.g., shorter time to failure, failure affects burning
characteristics or smoke spread or…
— May impact building FP system or feature • E.g., smoke/heat venting, suppression effectiveness,
apparatus access, firefighter access & operations…
Meacham, 2017
• Research Scope— Understand green building hazards
— Develop risk/hazard screening tool
• Structural Testing— Test residential scale compartments
and structures – post flashover fire to focus on structural failure
• Ventilation Testing— Salt water modeling Residential
Occupancy89%
Commercial Occupancy
11%
Identified Firefighter Injuries or Fatalities in the Green Elements from
FIDO Database (2003-2012)
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 4
Meacham, 2017
• Team— Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)
• Brian Meacham, Nicholas Dembsey, Praveen Kamath, HonggangWang, Qiang Kan, Matt Yin, Drew Martin, Young-Geun You, Michael Figueroa
— University of Maryland (UMD) • Michael Gollner, Andre Marshall, Pietro Maisto, Jens Triller, Jan
Zimlich, Wuquan Cui
— Fire Protection Research Foundation (FPRF)• Casey Grant, Amanda Kimball / Project Technical Panel
— National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)• Rita Fahy, Marty Ahrens, and John Hall
— Massachusetts Department of Fire Services (DFS)• Paul Vigneau
Meacham, 2017
Domestic Structural Systems
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 5
Meacham, 2017NFPA Annual Conference, June 20159
Meacham, 2017
• SIPs are composite structural panels with an insulating core of rigid foam and structural facings.
• Used for wall, floors and roofs.
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 6
Meacham, 2017
• 2 Semi-Permanent Walls— Steel construction, single vent
opening, 8 gas burners
• Dimensions— Length – 16 ft. (4.88 m)
— Width – 14 ft. (4.27 m)
— Height – 16 ft. (4.88 m)
• Designed to test 1-level, 1.5-level, and 1-level with roof
• Designed for loaded structure
Meacham, 2017
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 7
Meacham, 2017
Ignition of Propane Burners
Meacham, 2017
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 8
Meacham, 2017
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Tem
peratu
re (°C
)
Time (m)
North East Corner TC Tree
Series1
Series2
Series3
Series4
Series6
Meacham, 2017
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Tem
per
atu
re (°C
)
Time (m)
Stud Cavity: North WallSeries1
Series2
Series3
Series4
Series6
Series7
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 9
Meacham, 2017
Full-Depth Charring of Ceiling Joists at Mid-Span
Full-Depth Charring of Ceiling Joists at Supports
Meacham, 2017
Burning Wall Studs(Flame leak through
cracked gypsum drywall)
Burning Wall Studs(Flame leak through wall-roof connection)
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 10
Meacham, 2017
Stay tuned - to be presented!
Meacham, 2017
Stay tuned - to be presented!
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 11
Meacham, 2017
Stay tuned - to be presented!
Meacham, 2017
Natural Ventilation
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 12
Meacham, 2017
• Natural ventilation is more sensitive to external conditions and changes than forced ventilation— Opening or closing windows/doors
• Boundaries are being pushed removing compartmentalization
• No guidelines on how to respond— Open Windows/Doors or allow automatic function
— How long is necessary for evacuation?
— When will buildings fail?
• Potential for unexpected consequences
Meacham, 2017
Forced convection through a compartment
Highly dependent on external conditions
Some designs have sensitive control algorithms
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 13
Meacham, 2017
Driven by density difference between interior/exterior due to temperature differences
Meacham, 2017
The Gherkin in London. Windows open on
the outer skin to allow air to enter the
cavity between the inner and outer skin.
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 14
Meacham, 2017
• Add stack or air barrier to encourage heating/ cooling
• Potentially lose separation
• Operable windows
The Gherkin in London. Windows open on
the outer skin to allow air to enter the
cavity between the inner and outer skin.Potential Fire movement in Façade – Simon Lay, Presentation to NFPA Green Building Symposium, Chicago, Il, 2012.
Meacham, 2017
• Natural Ventilation— Indoor Comfort
— Heating or Cooling
— Stratified or Mixed
• Smoke Control— Vent in case of fire
— Time for proper evacuation
— Must remain stratified
Smoke
Warm Air
Cooling Configuration(stratified)
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 15
Meacham, 2017
• Model smoke movement in naturally-ventilated enclosures including— (1) Resolution study in large enclosures
— (2) Large atria openings
— (3) Double-skinned facades
— (4) Inclined ceilings
• Develop simple engineering models to— Anticipate external effects on smoke movement
— Highlight dangerous scenarios/configurations
• Translate this into better firefighting practices and code recommendations
Meacham, 2017
• Combine CFD with Saltwater Modeling— Validate smoke movement without large scale
— Saltwater Modeling• Nd-Yag Laser
• PIV (velocities)
• PLIF (densities/temp)
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 16
Meacham, 2017
Scale models proposed to test smoke filling dynamics of green building features
including (a) a sloped roof atria configuration with a fire source in the lower right
hand corner and (b) a combined solar chimney, two room, atria and slatted double-
skinned façade configuration.
• Unit Approach• Interchangeable acrylic models to
test ventilation configurations
Meacham, 2017
Smoke layer height vs. dimensionless time,
m*= 3.9e-6, measured at 𝑥1
𝐻= 0.5
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 17
Meacham, 2017
Stay tuned - to be presented!
Meacham, 2017
A representative room of the22nd floor was chosen as a basisof the dimensions for buildingthe enclosure.
The scales of the several chosen dimensions will be the following:Room height:0.180𝑚
3.9𝑚= 0.047
Room length:0.280𝑚
6𝑚= 0.047
Double Skin façade length:0.06𝑚
1.3𝑚= 0.046
To provide realistic test results thatcan be completely transferable toreal life the model dimensions arebased on the 30 St Mary Axe (widelyknown informally as The Gherkin)
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 18
Meacham, 2017
Model has two basic features:
• Exchangeable windows (1)
• Adjustable angle of louvers (2)
• The model was built out of acrylicthat makes it possible to runexperiments with salt watermodeling
• It dissembles two floors with adouble skin façade and louvers,which are a common element usedfor sun protection and naturalventilation
Meacham, 2017
The model gives the opportunity to
run salt water modeling experiences
with various louver positions.
That makes it possible
to compare the different
results and so helps to
understand how the
louver angle effects the smoke
behavior
Closed Louvers at Enclosure
Closed Louvers Double Skin façade
90° Position Louvers Double Skin façade
90° Position Louvers at Enclosure
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 19
Meacham, 2017
Three different louver positions were tested:
b) 45a) 90
c) Closed
Meacham, 2017
Stay tuned - to be presented!
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 20
Meacham, 2017
Meacham, 2017
Stay tuned - to be presented!
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 21
Meacham, 2017
Hazard / Risk Tool
Meacham, 2017
Consequences
Firefighter Operations
Structural Fire Performance
Material Fire Performance
Short time to failure
Potential to Collapse
Defensive Attack
FireGrowth
KeepSearching
Injuries or Fatalities
Trapped
Injuries or Fatalities
Risk of Lightweight Construction Failure on Fire Service
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 22
Meacham, 2017NFPA Annual Conference, June 201543
Ramachandran, G., and David A. Charters. Quantitative Risk Assessment in Fire Safety. London: Spon, 2011. Print.
• Several risk assessment approaches available
• Target was quantitative, but need data
Meacham, 2017NFPA Annual Conference, June 201544
Poses p
otentia
l igniti
on haza
rd
Poses p
otentia
l shock
haza
rd
Potentia
l exp
losio
n haza
rd
Poses p
otentia
l toxic
ity h
azard
Readily
ignita
ble
Burns r
eadily o
nce ig
nited
Contribute
s more
fuel /
incr
eased H
RR
Mate
rial a
ffect
s burn
ing ch
arac
teris
tics
Fast(e
r) fir
e growth
rate
Significa
nt sm
oke p
roduct
ion/h
azard
Potentia
l for s
horter t
ime to
failu
re
Failure
affe
cts b
urnin
g chara
cteris
tics
Failure
pre
sents
stab
ility c
oncern
Failure
pre
sents
smoke sp
read
concern
Failure
pre
sents
flam
e spre
ad conce
rn
Mate
rial p
rese
nts fla
me sp
read
conce
rn
May i
mpact
smoke
/heat v
enting
May i
mpact
occ
upant evac
uatio
n
May i
mpact
FF wat
er ava
ilabilit
y
May i
mpact
suppre
ssio
n effe
ctive
ness
May i
mpact
fire
appara
tus a
ccess
May i
mpact
FF acc
ess a
nd opera
tions
May i
mpact
conta
inm
ent of r
unoff
Relative ri
sk le
vel
Exterior Materials and Systems
- Structura l integrated panel (SIP)
- Exterior insulation & finish (EFIS)
- Rigid foam insulation
- Spray-appl ied foam insulation
- Foi l insulation systems
- High-performance glazing
- Low-emiss ivi ty & reflective coating
- Double-skin façade / cavi ty wal l
- Bamboo, other cel lulos ic
- Bio-polymers , FRPs
- Vegetative roof sys tems
- Insulating materia l
- Thickness
- Type of vegetation
- PVC ra inwater catchment
- Exterior cable / cable trays
- Extended solar roof panels
- Exterior solar shades / awning
- Exterior vegatative covering
Façade Attributes
- Area of glazing
- Area of combustible materia l
Risk Ranking Key
Low or N/A Presents a low risk when unmitigated or is not applicable to the listed attributes
Moderate Presents a moderate risk when unmitigated.
High Presents a high risk when unmitigated.
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 23
Meacham, 2017
• Selected comparative risk approach— Insufficient statistical (historical) fire loss data, and
insufficient fire test / experimental performance data on materials and systems for absolute risk approach
• Comparative approach allows establishment of a benchmark, for which sufficient data are available, and look at relative increase or decrease in risk
• Benchmark is traditional 2”x4” stick construction
Meacham, 2017
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 24
Meacham, 2017
How to fix weighting factors?
Time
Meacham, 2017
How does a green building feature affect the fire growth or structural stability?
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 25
Meacham, 2017
How does a green building feature finally affect the occupants’ safety or Fire fighters’ safety?
Meacham, 2017
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 26
Meacham, 2017
Stay tuned - to be presented!
Meacham, 2017
Outcomes, Conclusions, Future
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 27
Meacham, 2017
Stay tuned - to be presented!
Meacham, 2017
Stay tuned - to be presented!
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 28
Meacham, 2017
Stay tuned - to be presented!
Meacham, 2017
Thank you for your attention!
Questions?
Green Buildings and Firefighter Safety 5/17/2017
WPI and UMD (2017) 29
Meacham, 2017
CEUs: To receive CEUs for this session, scan yourbadge at the back of the room before leaving
Evaluation: Complete a session evaluation on the mobile app. (Search app store for ‘NFPA 2017 C&E.’)
Handouts: Handouts will be available via the mobile app and at nfpa.org/conference
Recordings: Audio recordings of all sessions will be available free of charge via NFPA Xchange.
2017 NFPA Conference & Expo