The Impact of Air Movement on High-Rise Commercial FiresBY Curtis MasseY

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TRAINING THE FIRE SERVICE FOR 137 YEARS

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BY C U R T I S M A S S E Y

EveRy HIgH-RIse buIldIng bReATHes. AIR Moves in and out and up and down. It is very important fire personnel responding to events in high-rises under-stand where the air is going. This will give the incident commander (IC) a better idea of where the smoke and toxic gases also may be going. If you understand how a build-ing behaves and breathes, you will have a firmer grasp on where the problem areas are going to be and where the dan-ger zones are within the confines of the building. you can literally predict where the smoke is most likely to go and, in turn, where you should dedicate your resources to address those problem areas, sometimes even before they begin to expose themselves. you can minimize or even avoid poten-tial casualty counts just by knowing how the building will be acting during the fire. staying ahead of the game and not allowing yourself to have to play catch-up are vital to the successful outcome of a serious fire. understand your theater of operations.

Air balancing is directly associated with the concept of stack effect. With stack effect, the temperature and pressure differentials between outside air and inside air dictate where the air currents will flow (horizontally and vertically) and where smoke is likely to follow. We know in cold weather that air is rushing up into the tower from the bottom of the building and out onto upper floors, whereas in warm weather the reverse is true: Air is rushing down through the tower and out of the bottom. In cold weather, fires in high-rises act completely differently than they do in warm weather. What causes this flow of air to occur within the building relative to temperature and pressure? The answer is the air balance.

let us more closely examine this unique phenomenon and the reasons fire departments must understand it.

AIR BALANCE AND THE NEUTRAL PRESSURE PLANE (NPP)

Air balancing is easier to explain in relation to high-rise commercial buildings that are modern and use a sealed envelope approach to energy conservation. Hence, I will break down that occupancy type. With newer buildings, windows do not open, and the curtain wall wraps the build-ing up in a protective envelope, which allows for more cost-effective heating and cooling. However, the windows and wall systems are rarely tightly sealed. because of wind pres-sure or thermal air differences, the air squeezes in around tiny cracks that exist on each floors exterior that are under slight negative pressure (the bottom half of the building in the winter/the top half in the summer). The air, then, is drawn into the core penetrations, because of a greater nega-tive pressure, and pulled up (or downsummer) to floors not under negative pressure and then pushed back out onto those floors by the now greater positive pressure that exists in the core after the current of air has passed the nPP, thus pressurizing those upper/lower floors to a positive nature. The combined wind pressure and thermal differential may shift the nPP in the building.

In the negative-pressure range of the building, the air is pulled into the building; in the positive-pressure range, the air discharges or leaks to the outside. When significant wind pressure is involved, it superimposes on the thermal balance of the nPP and shifts it (depending on leakage rates).

Educational ObjectivesOn completion of this course, students will

1. Develop an understanding of where the air is going at high-rise fires

2. Learn how high-rise construction-type effects on the Neutral Pressure Plane

3 review thermal stack effect4. Discover ways to control the stack effect

The Impact of Air Movement on High-

Rise Commercial Fires

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The nPP shift also affects the buildings pressurization by mechanical HvAC (heating, ventilating and air-conditioning) systemsmore outside air is brought into the building than is exhausted to the outside. Most buildings are slightly pressurized (bias) by the HvAC systems to reduce cold air infiltration, particularly in wintertime, which would affect the comfort conditions of occupants at the building perimeter zones. The building pressurization by HvAC systems is usu-ally more significant than the thermal stack effect in moving the nPP. It is intentionally high to prevent the inrush of cold air into the ground-floor entrance through lobbies and into elevator shafts (whistling doors) and stairwells. In highly pressurized buildings, the surplus of outside air assists in pushing the thermal stack effect air back to the buildings lower levels, and thus the nPP has mechanically been shifted downward in the building.

From the aforementioned, it should be clear that the air balance and nPP in a building shift up or down from the theoretical nPP midpoint in the building when air is moving horizontally as a result of wind pressure and through leakage on nearly every floor. It also occurs vertically as a result of stack effect and mechanical air pressurization. The nPP is typically found for about one to three floors, depending on the height of the building. There is virtually little to no air

exchange in and out of vertical shafts in that area; therefore, it is deemed to be neutral. It is under neither positive nor negative influences.

on floors above and below this zone, air is rushing in and out of the elevator shafts and stairwells because of tempera-ture and pressure imbalances. The farther floors are from the nPP, the greater the differential air pressure is relative to the outside and, thus, the velocity of air movement onto and off of building floors. In cold weather (Figure 1), the air is being drawn into the building through unsealed cracks at windows and spandrel panels on each floor as well as through lobby entrances with revolving and swinging doors (and even load-ing docks). This is why when you enter a high-rise building through a lobby swinging door, you instantly feel a rush of air going past you into the building as the door is pulled openthis is makeup air as a result of differential thermal pressures entering the chimney (the building).

In cold weather, air is sucked into the core because of the negative pressure that exists on all floors below the nPP. on floors above that zone, however, it is pushed out of the core because of a positive-pressure influence. The infiltra-tion, exfiltration, and air movement are relatively low just above and below the nPP and are much greater at the top and bottom of the tower. The air travels up above the nPP and is pushed out of upper-floor curtain wall openings and roof access doors, elevator machinery penthouses, and so on. The greater the differential pressure (outside vs. inside) caused by the three influences (thermal/stack, wind pres-sure, and building pressurization), the higher will be the rate of air movement, leakage, and effect on the vertical lo-cation of the nPP within a building. This also explains why super tall high-rise buildings experience such severe stack effect problems while a typical 10-story building does not: The taller the tower, the greater the air intake and discharge caused by the significant height involved and floors distant from the nPP. Positive-stack effect will be present in cold weather; negative-stack effect in warm weather. The higher the building, the more pronounced the effects.

The temperature difference between inside and outside and the height of a building play a major rolefor example, if it is 34F outside on a cold winter day and it is 74F inside a high-rise building, there is a 40F temperature differential. It can be expected that there will be a significant positive vertical stack effect taking place within the core penetrations with air channeling up and onto floors above the nPP while negative-pressure influences will be in the bottom half of the tower, allowing the draw of makeup air into the building to replace the warm air that is rising.

In super tall high-rises during cold weather, the velocity of air channeling into the core from lower floors and lobby doors can be high enough to prevent elevator doors in the lobby from opening or closing (photo 1) because of the sideward pressure on the elevator doors, tracks, or sliders as air is trying to rush into and up the elevator shafts. on lower floors, opened stairwell doors can be prevented from self-closing because of the pressure differential and air flow from the floor into the shaft (photo 2). This should be a very real

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Active elevatorMechanical oorNPP - Neutral Pressure Plane

Note the intake makeup air being drawn into the core shafts, rising above the neutral pressure plane (NPP), and pushing back out onto the upper floors. air velocity into and out of core pen-etrations intensifies as the distance from the NPP increases.

Figure 1. Cold Weather Fire

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concern if the fire is on a lower floor (below the nPP) in cold weather. When evacuating these floors, the doors may not self-close behind the fleeing tenants. This presents a serious problem for the IC from two perspectives:

1. The air (and smoke) being sucked into the stairwells is, of course, going to be drawn up to the nPP (located roughly midway up the building) and discharged beyond the nPP onto occupied floors many levels above the actual fire area, thereby increasing the life threat to oc-cupants who may be in a defend-in-place posture as directed by fire command.

2. If one or both stair exit doors (in a two-stair core con-figuration) are not closing behind fleeing tenants (no stairwell pressurization), this ensures that the fire will also be drawn toward these openings, as the negative partial pressure of the shaftway will pull the fire and smoke toward it. Fire and smoke take the path of least resistance. Compromising one or both stairs on the fire floor where this situation is present would essentially turn both stair shafts into smoke towers and greatly endanger the people on upper floors staying put or descending the stairs. even though the attack has to be mounted through one of the stair openings, fire person-nel must verify that the other stair door is closed unless search teams are passing through it.

Thinking through this equation with tall buildings, stair doors on lower floors would easily be pulled into the open position and may not close without human assistance while doors at the very upper floors will be fairly hard to open for tenants choosing to leave their floors since the strong air cur-rents caused by positive pressure will be pushing against the doors at these levels unless stairwell pressure relief dampers are present and functioning. Fortunately, stair pressurization in modern buildings will minimize this effect once it is activated by the automated alarm system (or manually at the lobby fire

command center or created by fire department fans).

THERMAL STACK EFFECT

one of historys most prominent examples of cold/winter stack effect was the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in new york City. It occurred in February; the outside air temperature was 37F, and there were light snow flurries. The tempera-ture inside the towers was ap-proximately 75F. Four-and-a-half minutes after detonation on the basement 2 level in the parking garage, there was a heavy smoke condition on the 110th floor of Tower 1 be-cause the bomb blast exposed

the base of the elevator and stair shafts of the nearby tower. How did the smoke travel so far vertically so fast, approxi-

mately 1,400 feet, in less than five minutes? stack effect. First responders could not control it that day because of the effects of the vehicle bomb, but it can be controlled to a great degree in typical high-rise fires by minimizing the time lobby

Chimney

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Dampers

1 2

(1) elevator doors unable to close as a result of the winter stack effectair rushing into the shaft from the lobby entrances. the doors will have to be forcefully closed by firefighters to begin Phase 2 operation. Lobby doorways must be closely controlled and supervised. (Photos by author.) (2) this stair door is unable to self-close because of severe winter stack on Floor 13 of a 100-story building. these open doors well below the NPP can pull fire/smoke toward occupied exit stairs, endangering evacuees on the floors above. Crews must check for these open doors to keep the stairway secure; stair pressurization is critical.

the building is a chimney, the core shaftways are flues, and the lobby entrances are dampers. the dampers must be tightly controlled during high-rise fires to avoid pushing/pulling smoke throughout the tower. the taller the building, the more pro-nounced are the stack effect and air exchange.

Figure 2. Stack Effect

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entrance doors (and external exit stair discharge doors if present) are opened. Keep the dampers (street-level doors) to the flues (core shafts) within the chimney (the build-ing) closed as much as absolutely possible (Figure 2).

At this event, misguided media advised people to break windows on upper floors for fresh air (when, in fact, all but the top-most floors were only slightly affected by smoke that truly impeded breathing). This just further exacerbated the situation, as it provided a more efficient discharge point for the stack effect on floors well above the nPP, where the outgoing pressure from core poke-throughs is greatest. It also did not help the cause that the elevators that served the lobby were being automatically recalled to lobby level and self-opening their doors, creating a more efficient intake point for the makeup air being drawn into these same shafts at the base of the chimney110 stories tall.

How many fireground commanders would be contemplat-ing this threat from stack effect as part of their high-rise stan-dard operating procedures (soP) checklist? Why is it not in every high-rise soP that efforts need to be made to attempt to control the stack effect in these types of fires?

How does the air get into and out of the shaftways within the core of a building? The same way it squeezes through unsealed or improperly sealed details of the curtain wall

(and lobby entrance doors). Air moves around stairwell doors and elevator hoistway landing doors at a higher rate than you might imagine. The better the elevator and stairwell door seals, the less potential for vertical air movement as a result of stack effect. even poor fire stopping on core poke-throughs (cable risers, for example) can feed the vertical air flow going up or down within the core area.

The winter air drawn into the building through curtain wall leakage below the nPP into the ceiling plenum area near the curtain wall is another concern relative to stack effect in buildings in cold climates. In countless cases, this has resulted in the freezing and bursting of fire protection branch lines and piping systems supplying the heating coils of perimeter fan-powered variable air volume boxes or fan coils; the lines do not contain antifreeze additives. As noted, at the WTC complex during the 1993 bombing, numerous windows were broken during the fire. despite sprinkler piping being insulated within 10 feet of the perimeter, the freezing/bursting of these lines was a very valid concern in this midwinter incident after the utility company shut down the steam service to perform necessary testing, which took a week. With the heat now down amid freezing temperatures and despite the loss of 300 windows, not even one sprinkler line froze. The management of the complex accomplished this by turning on all the fluorescent lights on all floors once power was restored in the evening on the day of the bombing. The lights created enough ambient heat to prevent a crisis within a crisis. sometimes ingenuity proves its value in aces.

In warm weather, outside air is drawn into the air-condi-tioned building on the upper floors (caused by negative-pres-sure influences by the descending of dense cool air), where it is quickly cooled by the HvAC system, pulled downward, and discharged onto lower floors with the greatest release oc-curring on the lowermost floors and at the lobby level (Figure 3). When you enter a lobby through a swinging door in the

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Note the air being drawn into the core shafts and discharged below the NPP out onto the lower floors. testing for carbon monoxide on the staging floor below NPP should be a standard operating procedure.

Figure 3. Hot Weather Fire 3

(3) Hot weather fire. the lobby entrance door is being held open by the outflow of cool air on a warm day. Failure to control these doors can cause the loss of the staging floor below the NPP and possibly also the lobby command post.

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summer (or a warm winter day), you can feel cool air rush past you leAvIng the buildingthe opposite of what hap-pens during cold weather, when, at these entrances, the air rushes past you and enTeRs the building. The natural flow of air is important to note because it dictates where smoke will travel. Also, as previously noted, as air enters these shafts, the stair doors on the lower floors may not close be-hind fleeing tenants. unbeknownst to the command post, the opposite can be true at the lobby level during warm weather fires: lobby doors may not be closing behind people leaving the building or firefighters entering it (photo 3). Allowing this open channel for air to escape the tower will draw smoke downward and further enhance the stack effect as this open-ing becomes a notable release point for the negative draft. It is important that responders be aware of this.

TRACKING OF CARBON MONOXIDE (CO)The tracking of Co must be a part of the overall scope of

the incident command process at high-rise fires. Tracking Co above the fire and noting floor intervals where it may be collecting are vital to understanding where areas of great danger might exist for fleeing tenants or tenants performing a defend-in-place procedure dictated by the incident command post when it is deemed unnecessary for upper floors to evacu-ate. Firefighters and command officers tend to focus mostly on what is happening at and above the fire floor. However, we must monitor what is taking place below the fire floor as well.

FIRE FLOORS AND THE NPPWith an understanding of the air balance, nPP, and air

movement above the fire floor, we should ask ourselves the question, What happens in high-rise buildings below the fire floor in hot weather? We know that in cold weather, a positive stack effect is taking place, where air is rushing in at the bottom of the tower, up past the nPP, and back out on floors above. but, what is taking place when a fire strikes in summertime? If air is rushing into the core from the upper floors, traveling down past the nPP, and pushing out the base because of negative-temperature/pressure differentials between inside/outside air, what happens in fires where the air outside is much warmer than the air inside? Example: It is 95F outside in July; inside, it is an average of

75F on tenant floors. There is a 20F temperature imbalance in play, and cooler air, being more dense, descends within the tower. lets say the fire is on floor 15 of a 40-story building, below the nPP. If the smoke becomes significant and enters the core area, something important will occur. surely, some of the smoke will rise because of the temperature of the heated gases from the fire. However, the air being channeled down from the upper floors with the negative stack effect will also pull some of the smoke (and toxic gases) down beloW the fire floor, sometimes many floors below the fire.

Why would this be an important concern? Where is the staging floor? Typically, two floors below the fire. you can see where this area can easily be compromised, especially since it is below the nPP, where air is being forced back out of internal shaftways and poke-throughs. This air pushing

out onto lower floors can channel a fair amount of smoke onto the staging floor, contaminating it to the point of being untenable (especially if the HvAC system is turned off or not in pressurization mode for the floors above and below the fire). Fire crews would then be forced to drop down and re-stage several floors below, in turn moving equipment and re-lief crews farther from where they are needed. This includes rapid intervention teams standing by off air. losing your staging floor is not a recipe for success; that is why it may be wise to also take Co readings beloW the fire floor in warm weather fires, especially on the staging floor, to ensure high-level readings of Co do not exist where a great deal of smoke may not be present. This very real threatis the staging floor safe to occupy?is easily overlooked in fires during warm weather. What about other tenant floors in this area where people may be maintaining a defend-in-place posture be-cause of the fire above them? This underscores the impor-tance of tracking Co movement at various intervals above and below the fire area, in warm weather and cold weather alike. In several high-rise fires in the united states, the lobby command post was lost because of the reverse stack effects pulling smoke down well below the fire floor and discharg-ing it onto the lobby level, which was likely caused by open elevator cabs standing by in Phase 1 recall mode and prob-ably open stairwell doors that discharged into the lobby.

With a firm grasp of how air moves within a high-rise building in winter relative to temperature/pressure differen-tials, if you could choose where your fire would be the day you have to fight it, what would be the best option? If it is at the base of the tower, smoke will get sucked into the core shafts and channeled up and out onto upper floors, so the best place to have the fire would be on an upper floornot just because the smoke does not have far to go as it rises but also because the air is pushing ouT of the upper-floor penetrations. This air movement will assist in keeping much of the smoke out of critical core chases since, in effect, it is naturally pressurizing the upper floors and assisting in the containment of smoke spread.

on a hot summer day, the descending cool interior air will be rushing out of the vertical shafts below the nPP and onto the lower-level floors. This partial positive pressurization can be a major asset to smoke travel and containment although it does provide one slight drawback: Air flowing onto the fire floor will be at a greater rate and will feed the fire to some degree once the attack stair door is propped open (the same is true on upper floors in a cold-weather fire). However, the benefits of smoke containment outweigh this factor. There may be some smoke migrating possibly because of greater positive pressure from the fire into the attack stair if no stair-pressurization capability is present and the fire is close to the core. This smoke will likely be drawn downward to floors below (and sometimes well below) the fire in some propor-tion in these warm-weather events.

PRESSURIZATION SYSTEMSnewer, modern commercial office buildings typically pos-

sess stair (and sometimes elevator) pressurization systems,

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as well as at least floor pressurization capability during fires and possibly full smoke removal capability, too, for the fire floor. such systems provide a new air balance and a shift in the nPP of the building, and they assist tremendously in containing vertical smoke movement in the building during a working fire.

some building codes in milder climates require high-rise buildings to have open vented elevator shafts for smoke purging. elevators serving the alarm floor would normally be recalled to the ground floor and remain out of operation (for civilian use) during a fire. In some high-rise buildings, (heated) elevator pressurization systems have been installed (i.e., the 52-story Manulife Centre in Toronto) to lower the nPP and reduce the significant stack effect, the air pressure on elevator doors (which can prevent doors from opening be-cause of sideway pressure on doors and tracks), and vertical air movement from the lobby into the elevator shafts. It also curbs smoke going into the shaft and the machinery room above during a fire.

WAYS TO CONTROL STACK EFFECTyou can control stack effect by doing the following:leave the building HvAC system on (unless it is clearly

proving detrimental to the cause), and allow it to main-tain positive pressure to floors above and below the fire.

Provide supervision for the lobby entrance doors. Mini-mize open times, and verify throughout a warm-weather fire that they are closing after each use.

Keep ground-level stair doors (interior or exterior discharge) closed when not being used by tenants or fire crews.

Mechanically pressurize stairwells with fire department fans if a pressurization system is not present and operat-ing (no gas-powered fans in the lobby, though, unless exhaust is vented to the exterior).

send elevator cars (except for one or two cabs) to the second floor (if no atrium is present) and place in hold, monitored/controlled by a firefighter. Avoid opening lobby hoistway doors, which will draw air into these shafts and enhance the existing stack effect and smoke movement.

ensure stairwell doors on the floors in the negative-pres-sure zone are closing behind fleeing tenants and are not oscillating in the open position.

QUICK TIPS Cold weather: expect rapid smoke spread to the upper

floors from fires on the lower floors.Hot weather: expect fires on the lower floors to contami-

nate several floors below the fire. expect possible loss of the staging floor and possibly even the lobby com-mand post. Most importantly, test early and often for Co at designated floor intervals. Track it as you would your personnel.

TESTING FOR HYDROGEN CYANIDE (HCN)one other danger commonly overlooked is the threat of

hydrogen cyanide (HCn) from the burning synthetic (foam, rubber) and natural (paper, wool) products present during the combustion process. This gas is even deadlier than Co. since many hospitals may not have the capability of testing for HCn poisoning after a fatal fire, victims may often be pronounced dead from Co exposure when it could very well have been more directly related to the toxic gas HCn. newer gas sensors can test for and monitor the presence of HCn in addition to Co. strongly consider having rapid ascent teams and other crews take sample readings to check for high levels of both of these deadly gases throughout the firefight-ing effort.

It is a widely acceptable standard practice that when a fire occurs in a high-rise building that the fire department ensure the evacuation of two floors above the fire floor, the fire floor, and two floors below the fire floor. The remainder of the occupants should remain in place. This is also commonly taught in fire warden training, as dictated by fire prevention bureau guidelines. Having a complete grasp on how far and how fast smoke (and deadly Co/HCn) can travel remote from the immediate fire area because of air imbalance and stack effect, it can be argued that these parameters must be reas-sessed very early in a working incident.

empowered with the knowledge of how air travels within the confines of a multistory building, you can now predict where the greatest threat from smoke spread will occur. If you can predict that, you can also predict and plan for where the greatest threat exists relative to occupant survival and where you must concentrate your rescue teams. Co monitor-ing, again, cannot be emphasized strongly enough. The next time you look at a 30-story building, look at it as a living/breathing 30-story chimney. Air balancing should be included in the training regimen of every department that responds to fires in high-rises.

Authors note: Thanks to Jack Smits, managing director of engineering and technical services, Manulife Financial, Real Estate Division, and Alan Reiss, former director of the New York World Trade Center and current construction manager of the new Freedom Tower/One World Trade Center rebuilding project.

Curtis MasseY is a former ladder company officer and manages Massey enterprises inc., which preplans buildings for fire department operations in the united states and Canada. He has been a high-rise instructor and a lecturer and writer for many years. His concept of rapid ascent teams has been adopted and successfully used by departments across the country.

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Continuing Education

the impact of air Movement on High-rise Commercial Fires

1) Why is it important to understand where the air is going in a high-rise incident?

a. Allows the incident commander (IC) the probable location of a flow-path

b. gives the IC a better idea of where the smoke and toxic gases also may be going

c. so that the truck company knows which windows to ventilated. All of the above

2) If you understand how a building behaves and breathes, you will have a firmer grasp on where the problem areas are going to be and where the danger zones are within the confines of the building

a. Trueb. False

3) you can minimize or even avoid potential casualty counts just by knowing how the ________ will be acting during the fire

a. smokeb. Fire gasesc. ICd. building

4) Air balancing is directly associated with the concept of:

a. stack effectb. neutral pressure plane (nPP)c. Flow Pathd. none of the above

5) When cold weather, air is rushing __________into the tower from the _________ of the building

a. down, Topb. up, bottomc. down, bottomd. up, Top

6) What building feature in newer high-rises seals the building like an envelope?

a. energy efficient Windowsb. Automatic fire doorsc. Curtain wallsd. draft stops

7) Combined wind pressure and thermal differential may shift what in the building?

a. nPPb. Flow Pathc. Fire gasesd. none of the above

8) In the negative-pressure range of the building, the air is pulled into the building; in the positive-pressure range, the air discharges or leaks to the outside

a. Trueb. False

9) What impact does heating ventilation and air conditioning systems (HvAC) have on the nPP?

a. Reduces air movement into the buildingb. brings more air into the building than is exhausted to the outside

c. Raises the nPP in center core buildingsd. All of the above

10) The air balance and nPP in a building shift up or down from the theoretical nPP midpoint in the building when air is moving horizontally as a result of wind pressure and thorough leakage on nearly every floor

a. Trueb. False

11) In super tall high-rises during cold weather, the velocity of air channeling into the core from lower floors and lobby doors can be high enough to prevent which type of doors from opening or closing?

a. Fire doorsb. office doorsc. elevator doorsd. entrance doors

12) What could be the consequence of compromising one or both stairs on the fire floor with an upward draft on the nPP during cold weather?

a. stabilization of the nPPb. Turning both stairwell shafts into smoke towers, thereby

endangering fleeing occupantsc. overpressure of the attack stairsd. none of the above

13) With regards to the stack effect, a commercial high-rise building is analogous to a ___________ as the core shaftways are flues and the lobby entrances are dampers

a. Chimneyb. smokestackc. HvACd. none of the above

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14) even poor firestopping on core poke-throughs such as cable risers can feed the vertical air flow going up or down within the core area

a. Trueb. False

15) What common fire gas should be tracked as part of the overall scope of the IC process at high-rise fires?

a. HCnb. Co

2

c. Cod. o

2

16) on a hot summer day, the ______________ cool interior air will be rushing _________ of the vertical shafts below the nPP and on the lower-level floors

a. ascending, outb. descending, inc. ascending, ind. descending, out

17) Which of the following is a way to control the stack effect?

a. leave the building HvAC system on and allow it to maintain positive pressure to floors above and below the fire

b. Provide supervision for the lobby entrance doorsc. Keep ground-level doors closedd. All of the above

18) Which of the following is another way to control the stack effect?

a. Mechanically pressurize stairwells with fire department fansb. send elevator cars to the second floor and place in the Hold

positionc. ensure stairwell doors on the floors in the negative-pressure

zone are closing behind fleeing tenants and are not oscillating in the open position

d. All of the above

19) during cold weather, the IC should expect rapid smoke spread to the upper floors from fires on the lower floors

a. Trueb. False

20) during hot weather, the IC should expect fires on the lower floors to contaminate several floors below the fire and possibly the lobby command post

a. Trueb. False

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Notes

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SPONSOR/PROVIDERNo manufacturer or third party has had any input into the development of course content. All content has been derived from references listed, and or the opinions of the instructors. Please direct all questions pertaining to PennWell or the administration of this course to Pete Prochilo, peterp@pennwell.com.

COURSE EVALUATION and PARTICIPANT FEEDBACKWe encourage participant feedback pertaining to all courses. Please be sure to complete the survey included with the course. Please e-mail all questions to: Pete Prochilo, peterp@pennwell.com.

INSTRUCTIONSAll questions should have only one answer. Grading of this examination is done manually. Participants will receive confirmation of passing by receipt of a verification form.

EDUCATIONAL DISCLAIMERThe opinions of efficacy or perceived value of any products or companies mentioned in this course and expressed herein are those of the author(s) of the course and do not necessarily reflect those of PennWell.

Completing a single continuing education course does not provide enough information to give the participant the feeling that s/he is an expert in the field related to the course topic. It is a combination of many educational courses and clinical experience that allows the participant to develop skills and expertise.

COURSE CREDITS/COSTAll participants scoring at least 70% on the examination will receive a verification form verifying 4 CE credits. Participants are urged to contact their state or local authority for continuing education requirements.

RECORD KEEPINGPennWell maintains records of your successful completion of any exam. Please go to www.FireEngineeringUniversity.com to see your continuing education credits report.

2009 by Fire Engineering University, a division of PennWell.

COURSE EvAlUATIONPlease evaluate this course by responding to the following statements, using a scale of Excellent = 5 to Poor = 1.

1. To what extent were the course objectives accomplished overall? 5 4 3 2 1

2. Please rate your personal mastery of the course objectives. 5 4 3 2 1

3. How would you rate the objectives and educational methods? 5 4 3 2 1

4. How do you rate the authors grasp of the topic? 5 4 3 2 1

5. Please rate the instructors effectiveness. 5 4 3 2 1

6. Was the overall administration of the course effective? 5 4 3 2 1

7. Do you feel that the references were adequate? Yes No

8. Would you participate in a similar program on a different topic? Yes No

9. If any of the continuing education questions were unclear or ambiguous, please list them.

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10. Was there any subject matter you found confusing? Please describe.

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11. What additional continuing education topics would you like to see?

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Mail or fax completed answer sheet toFire Engineering University, Attn: Carroll Hull,

1421 S. Sheridan Road, Tulsa OK 74112 Fax: (918) 831-9804

Continuing Education

the impact of air Movement on High-rise Commercial FiresPROGRAM COMPlETION INFORMATIONIf you wish to purchase and complete this activity traditionally (mail or fax) rather than Online, you must provide the information requested below. Please be sure to select your answers carefully and complete the evaluation information. To receive credit, you must receive a score of 70% or better.

Complete online at: www.FireEngineeringUniversity.com

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ANSwER FORMPlease check the correct box for each question below.

PERSONAl CERTIFICATION INFORMATION:

Last Name (PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY OR TYPE)

First Name

Profession/Credentials License Number

Street Address

Suite or Apartment Number

City/State Zip Code

Daytime Telephone Number with Area Code

Fax Number with Area Code

E-mail Address

TRAdITIONAl COMPlETION INFORMATION:

PaYMeNt & CreDit iNFOrMatiON

Examination Fee: $25.00 Credit Hours: 4

Should you have additional questions, please contact Pete Prochilo (973) 251-5053 (Mon-Fri 9:00 am-5:00 pm EST).

I have enclosed a check or money order.

I am using a credit card.

My Credit Card information is provided below.

American Express Visa MC Discover

Please provide the following (please print clearly):

Exact Name on Credit Card

Credit Card # Expiration Date

Signature