Fire Safety A Research Review Fire Safety of Tall Wood …/media/C0524BDF06F4421186E8… · · 2014-06-24Fire Safety of Tall Wood Buildings: A Research Review David Barber,

2014 NFPA Conference & Expo Robert Gerard, Arup, San Francisco

Fire Safety of Tall Wood Buildings: A Research Review David Barber, Arup, Melbourne

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Fire Safety of Tall Wood Buildings:A Research Review

9 June 2014

Robert Gerard, Arup Fire, San Francisco

David Barber, Arup Fire, Melbourne

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Fire Safety

• Safety from fire

- Occupant evacuation

- Emergency operations

• Safety from structural failure

- Structural stability

• Safety during building use

- Occupation

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Timber Buildings

• Human experience



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Timber Buildings

• Light timber framing

- 2” x 4” studs

- “I” joists

• Stick frame construction

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Timber Buildings

• Heavy timber frame products

- Engineered wood products

Glue laminated wood (Glulam) Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL)

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Timber Buildings

• Heavy timber frame construction

- Post and beam construction



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Timber Buildings


- Engineered wood products

Cross Laminated Timber (CLT)

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Timber Buildings

• Heavy timber frame construction

- Panelized construction

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Timber Buildings


- Composite wood products

Post-tensioned timber



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Timber Buildings


- Composite wood products

Timber-concrete composite floors

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Contemporary Examples

• Panelized construction

- Stadhaus, London, UK, 2009

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- Stadhaus, London, UK, 2009



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- Forte Building, Melbourne, Australia, 2013

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- Forte Building, Melbourne, Australia, 2013

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• Post and beam construction

- Life Cycle Tower One, Austria, 2012



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- Life Cycle Tower One, Austria, 2012

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- Wood Innovation Design Centre, Prince George, Canada, 2014

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Timber Buildings

• Feasibility studies

“Office Building of the Future”,

CEI Architecture, 2013 Timber Tower, SOM, 2013



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Timber Buildings

• Feasibility studies

- Case for Tall Wood

30-story high-rise,

Michael Green Architecture, 2012

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Timber Buildings

• Global precedent

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Building Regulations in Timber

• International regulations



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• International regulations

Country Applicable Building Code Maximum # of Stories

Sprinklered Unsprinklered

Australia 2013 Building Code of Australia (BCA) 3 3

Austria Austrian Building Codes 8 (*72 feet) 3

Canada 2010 National Building Code of Canada

(NBCC)

4 3

Germany 2012 Federal Building Code 8 (*59 feet) 3

Sweden 2013 Planning and Building Act 8 2

United

Kingdom

2010 Building Regulations 5** 4**

United States 2012 International Building Code (IBC) 5 4

* Indicates a height limit in addition to a maximum story limit

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• Prescriptive Design

- Code changes

• Performance based design

- Alternative solution to prescriptive codes

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Timber Fire Performance

• Charring

- Well-understood

- Predictable- ~0.03 in/min [0.7mm/min]



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• Fire performance

- Light timber vs. heavy timber

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• Fire protection

- Light timber

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• Fire protection

- Heavy timber

Sacrificial char layer

Solid “cold” timber



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• Fire protection

- Connections

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• Fire performance

- Composite members

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• Timber Frame 2000 (TF 2000)

- Cardington, UK, 1999

- Fire resistance mid-rise timber building



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• Natural fire testing, Frangi and Fontana, 2005

- Light timber framing

- Combustible lining vs. gypsum lining

- Sprinklered vs. non-sprinklered

Sprinkler protectionCombustible lining Gypsum board

lining

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• Timber composite assemblies (O’Neill, 2012)

- Fire performance based on testing

- Up to 2-hour ratings for assemblies

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• CLT assemblies (Osborne, Dagenais, Benichou, 2012)

- Charring rate consistent with wood (~0.03 in/min [0.7mm/min])

- Predictable behavior

- Improved performance with gypsum board protection



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Further Research

• Composite assemblies

• Connections

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Further Research

• Penetrations

- Fire-stopping

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Further Research

• Contribution timber to room fires

- Delamination



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Further Research

• Perception of risk

- Improved understanding

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Gaining Approval

• Option 1 – Prescriptive route

- TF 2000, UK

- FPInnovations, North America

• Long term solution

- Requires significant justification- Testing, understanding, discussion, agreement

- Takes a significant amount of time- 3-year code cycles (USA)

Fire Safety

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Gaining Approval

• Option 2 – Performance route

- All tall timber structures to date- UK, Australia, Europe, Canada

- Up to the discretion of the approval authority

- Required technical justification for safety

Fire Safety



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Gaining Approval

• Fire protection strategies – Passive Protection

- Encapsulation

- Egress

- Compartmentation

Fire Safety

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Gaining Approval

• Fire protection strategies – Active Protection

- Sprinkler protection

- Detection and alarm systems

Fire Safety

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Gaining Approval

• Improved understanding of fire risks

- Penetrations

- Connections

- Contribution exposed timber to room fires

Fire Safety



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Gaining Approval

• Technical justification

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Risk Communication

• We cling to the myth that timber construction presents risks, while concrete and steel do not. Nonsense. Every material presents risks, but we manage them in different ways…

- Russell Fortmeyer, Arup

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Acknowledgements

• Fire Protection Research Association

• National Fire Protection Association

• WoodWorks

• American Wood Council



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Fire Safety of Tall Wood Buildings:A Research Review

9 June 2014

Robert Gerard, Arup Fire, San Francisco

David Barber, Arup Fire, Melbourne

Documents

Fire Safety A Research Review Fire Safety of Tall Wood …/media/C0524BDF06F4421186E8… · · 2014-06-24Fire Safety of Tall Wood Buildings: A Research Review David Barber,