CFD Smoke Spread Simulation
This project involved connecting two separate university buildings with a glass atrium, with five storeys of interconnected floors. This design connected an open and inviting indoor space for students and staff.
This design did not meet the prescriptive requirements of Division B - Part 3 of the Building Code. However, the Code allows for this design if certain conditions are met. GBA developed an alternative solution using the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) as a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model. This model demonstrated to the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) that a smoke management system would be a mitigating measure to meet the performance requirements of the Code regarding the safe evacuation of the building occupants.
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Egress Simulation
The Building Code is very specific about the required spacing of seats in a fixed seating arrangement because the spacing dictates the egress pattern and time to evacuate in the event of a fire or emergency. The correct placement and spacing of seats is therefore paramount in the context of saving lives.
A Client wished to reinstall desktop seating from a university lecture theatre into a new theatre. GBA prepared an alternative solution for the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) based on an egress simulation using a software program called Simulux. Simulux evaluates the provided egress paths and, based on recognized human movement characteristics, calculates the time required to evacuate a space. Using Simulux, GBA was able to demonstrate that the proposed egress routes incorporating the re-used desktop seating would meet the egress time performance requirements of the Code.
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