The development of a full probabilistic risk assessment model for quantifying the life safety risk in buildings in case of fire

In het kader van dit onderzoek is een probabilistisch model ontwikkeld dat het brandveiligheidsniveau van een gebouwontwerp kan kwantificeren en dit berekende veiligheidsniveau kan evalueren aan de hand van een vooraf gedefinieerd aanvaardbaar risicocriterium. De ontwikkelde methodiek kan zowel prescriptieve als op prestatie-gebaseerde ontwerpmethoden objectiveren door rekening te houden met de onzekerheid van ontwerpparameters en de betrouwbaarheid van veiligheidssystemen. Het model bestaat uit zowel een deterministisch als een probabilistisch gedeelte. Het deterministische kader is opgebouwd uit verschillende deelmodellen om zowel de verspreiding van brand en rook, als de interactie met evacuerende personen te simuleren. Verschillende deelmodellen zijn ontwikkeld om het effect van geïmplementeerde veiligheidsmaatregelen zoals detectie, sprinklers , rook- en warmteafvoersystemen, enz. mee in rekening te brengen. Het probabilistische kader is opgebouwd uit modellering van responsoppervlakken, steekproeftechnieken en ontwerp van grenstoestanden. De methodiek maakt gebruik van deze technieken om de nodige rekenkracht te beperken. Het uiteindelijke resultaat wordt vertaald naar een kans op sterfte, een individueel risico en een groepsrisico. De grote meerwaarde van de ontwikkelde methodiek is dat het mogelijk wordt om verschillende ontwerpmethodieken objectief met elkaar te vergelijken en het positieve effect van verbeterde veiligheidstechnieken en redundantie mee in rekening te brengen in het eindresultaat

Towards a Sustainable Life: Smart and Green Design in Buildings and Community

This Special Issue includes contributions about occupants’ sustainable living in buildings and communities, highlighting issues surrounding the sustainable development of our environments and lives by emphasizing smart and green design perspectives. This Special Issue specifically focuses on research and case studies that develop promising methods for the sustainable development of our environment and identify factors critical to the application of a sustainable paradigm for quality of life from a user-oriented perspective. After a rigorous review of the submissions by experts, fourteen articles concerning sustainable living and development are published in this Special Issue, written by authors sharing their expertise and approaches to the concept and application of sustainability in their fields. The fourteen contributions to this special issue can be categorized into four groups, depending on the issues that they address. All the proposed methods, models, and applications in these studies contribute to the current understanding of the adoption of the sustainability paradigm and are likely to inspire further research addressing the challenges of constructing sustainable buildings and communities resulting in a sustainable life for all of society

Fire safety models for high-rise residential buildings in Malaysia

This research investigated the effects of escape route design and specification, and time taken on evacuation process in high-rise residential buildings in Malaysia. The aim is to produce a fire safety model on how fire safety standards in high-rise residential buildings can be achieved by investigating the relationship between human behaviour and structural design, particularly escape route design and specification. In Malaysia, research on fire safety is very new, particularly research on provision of fire safety in high-rise residential buildings. The number of fire cases involved residential buildings is significantly high compared to other building types. Thus, escape routes in high-rise residential buildings should be designed and constructed to enable the occupants to evacuate the building as soon as fire has been detected. Mixed methodologies i.e. quantitative and qualitative methods were adopted in this research. There are three research methods adopted i.e. observation, simulation and questionnaire. Observations were carried out to identify any problems encountered and to develop the study models for further analysis. Investigations of the effects of escape route design and specification on evacuation process were carried out using specialist software, i.e. Simulex, which simulates the evacuation of people from the building. The aim is to study escape route specifications i.e. staircase, fire door and corridor. Questionnaire surveys were than carried out to investigate the occupant’s characteristics, behaviours, perceptions and motivation factors to evacuate the building. From this research, fire safety models proposed for high-rise residential buildings as follows, (1) Fire safety model to achieve fire safety standard in high-rise residential buildings, (2) Escape route designs and specifications, and, (3) Human behaviour model. There are five fire safety components that need to be enhanced i.e. (1) Fire Safety Awareness, (2) Fire Safety Design, (3) Fire Safety Equipments and Evacuation Skill, (4) Fire Safety Audit, and (5) Fire Safety Enforcement. Besides, there are four factors which highly influence the evacuation process, fire and casualty risk i.e.: (1) People behaviour – knowledge and experience, (2) building element and escape routes design, (3) active fire protection system, and (4) legislation and enforcement

Universal Design and Visitability: from Accessibility to Zoning

National Endowment for the Art

Emergency Planning for Public Safety Communicators

emergency preparednessemergency planninghazard assessmentdisastersemergencyEmergency Planning for Public Safety Communicators gives a practical perspective for prospective communicators who represent the front line of emergency responders in an emergency situation. Responders deal with emergencies every day, and it is important for communicators to know their role in response by their agencies. Understanding how they fit in the overall emergency management of a situation and legislation is key to being effective. One section provides assistance in creating a home emergency plan for communicators and responders, as well as the tools to conduct hazard analyses at home and work. Communicators can take control of how they will handle their personal lives in a disaster. This Canadian textbook is part of the Public Safety Communications program at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.Wade, N. & Macpherson, A. (2016) Emergency Planning for Public Safety Communicators. Surrey, B.C.: Kwantlen Polytechnic UniversityPeer reviewe