a. alvarez – m. ferreira – b. meacham 11 june 2013 the vulcan initiative: a web-based platform...
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A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
The VULCAN INITIATIVE: A Web-based Platform
for the Next Generation of Performance-BasedFire Protection Engineering (W56)
Alberto ALVAREZ, Ph. D.
Matthew A. FERRIERA
Prof. Brian J. MEACHAM – WPI (Advisor)
The VULCAN INITIATIVE
This work is supported by NIST Grant 60NANB10D228
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Presentation layout
1st part: background and context• Why? Need to change• What? “next generation of PBD”
2nd part: the Vulcan Initiative• How?• Who? The importance of participants
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Challenges related to the use of current PBFPD processes (1) Generic guidelines
Challenges related to the application of generic guidelines
how to integrate the specifics of a project into considerationin the definition of the problem to solvein the analysisin the integration of the fire protection measures into the global
project ("idealized" design features and "real life" installed and running features)
How to get the results of the
application of the process accepted
by the stakeholders?
How to get the results of the
application of the process
continuously understood by
the stakeholders (and building
users)?
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Challenges related to the technical aspect of the current PBFPD processes
Estimation of the consequences of fire design scenarios
Determination of influential factors affecting the evaluation of trial designs
Selection and adaptation of literature values, when available, to use in models
Comparison of levels of performance between an engineering solution and the one based on prescriptive requirements
How to apply the technical steps of the process to a specific project?
Challenges related to the use of current PBFPD processes (2) Technical aspect
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Challenges related to the political aspect of the current PBFPD processes
Definition, use and quantification of the performance/acceptance criteriaSelection of fire design scenariosDealing with a priori lists of performance criteria and design fire scenarios
How to separate the technical actions from the political decisions?
Challenges related to the use of current PBFPD processes (3) Political aspect
Technical level of challenges Political level of challenges
Engineering process itself Decision making process
Manuscript to be published in the Journal of Fire Protection Engineering “20 Years of Performance-Based Fire Protection Design: Challenges Faced and a Look Ahead”
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Need for a paradigm shift
Paradigm associated with the current PBFPD processesFire Protection measures would perform as designed to mitigate the effects of design fire scenarios in comparison with performance criteria
Paradigm associated with the new PBFPD processThe “building-occupant” system has to integrate Fire Protection measures which would mitigate the effects (amplitude and duration) of fire events on its overall performance
Challenges
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Fire as one of many disruptive events of the building-occupant system
Time
Performance of the Philips Plant: daily number of chips produced
The 10 minute fire is extinguished by sprinklers and staff interventionChips on the furnace where the fire started are lost
According to the current application of the PBFPD processes, the designed system was operative and successful… Nevertheless….
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Fire as one of many disruptive events of the building-occupant system
The 10 minute fire is extinguished by sprinklers and staff interventionChips on the furnace where the fire started are lost
Chip
s on
all
the
plan
t are
lost
an
d th
e w
hole
pla
nt p
rodu
ction
is
stop
ped
Smoke spread and tramping of staff and fire fighters from the fire scene (in the mix of dirt and water) contaminate chips at every stage of the production
Full impact of the fire event
Time
Performance of the Philips Plant: daily number of chips produced
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Fire as one of many disruptive events of the building-occupant system
The 10 minute fire is extinguished by sprinklers and staff interventionChips on the furnace where the fire started are lost
Several weeks to restore the clean rooms
Full impact of the fire event
Time
Performance of the Philips Plant: daily number of chips produced
Chip
s on
all
the
plan
t are
lost
an
d th
e w
hole
pla
nt p
rodu
ction
is
stop
ped
Smoke spread and tramping of staff and fire fighters from the fire scene (in the mix of dirt and water) contaminate chips at every stage of the production
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Fire as one of many disruptive events of the building-occupant system
The 10 minute fire is extinguished by sprinklers and staff interventionChips on the furnace where the fire started are lost
Several weeks to restore the clean rooms
Full impact of the fire event Restarting
production
Time
Performance of the Philips Plant: daily number of chips produced
Chip
s on
all
the
plan
t are
lost
an
d th
e w
hole
pla
nt p
rodu
ction
is
stop
ped
Smoke spread and tramping of staff and fire fighters from the fire scene (in the mix of dirt and water) contaminate chips at every stage of the production
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Fire as one of many disruptive events of the building-occupant system
The 10 minute fire is extinguished by sprinklers and staff interventionChips on the furnace where the fire started are lost
Several weeks to restore the clean rooms
Full impact of the fire event
Preparation for recovery Recovery
Long term impact
Fire disruptive event
Restarting
production
Pre- event "chronic" state
Post- event "chronic" state
Time
Performance of the Philips Plant
Chip
s on
all
the
plan
t are
lost
an
d th
e w
hole
pla
nt p
rodu
ction
is
stop
ped
Smoke spread and tramping of staff and fire fighters from the fire scene (in the mix of dirt and water) contaminate chips at every stage of the production
Design fire scenario
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
“Chronic” objectives vs. “Acute” objectives
People focused on what they are doing, no attention to the surroundingsLoss of time perception
“chronic” = everyday use of the building
“acute” = disruptive event occurring in the building or affecting the normal use of the building
How to make people aware of the fire?How to decide which fire protection measures (technical and managerial) to install in the building?
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Competing “chronic” objectivesOriginal design vs. real usage
The “vision” of the architect
The reality of the system
The conceptual and design phase
The actual building usage
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Blocked exit in Australia
Combustible load in exit stairwell in a student housing in UK
Competing “acute” and “chronic” objectivesConceptual design vs. real usage
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Characteristics of the new paradigm
• Paradigm associated with the new PBFPD process– The “building-occupant” system has to integrate Fire
Protection measures which would mitigate the effects of fire events on its overall performance
– “Building-occupant” system: system defined by a structure (i.e. building) inside which “targets” (i.e. occupants interacting with building contents) are primarily engaged in a specific activity.
– This activity is quantified (e.g. activity number carried out by day or week) and then the performance of the system is estimated by the level of this activity.
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Definition of a “building-occupant” system
Institutional
Child care facilities (2 ½ years of age or less)
Detoxification facilities
Hospitals and mental hospitals (medical, psychiatric, obstetrical or surgical treatment of in-patients)
Nursing homes
In the current paradigm, all these institutional buildings are treated the same
In the new paradigm, all these systems are treated according to their targets
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Characteristics of the new paradigm
• Paradigm associated with the new PBFPD process– During normal every day conditions or "chronic states of the
system", “targets” (i.e. occupants using important building components) are located in "functional zones" where they carry out their activities associated with "chronic objectives", established in accordance with the system scope. "Utility zones" include system support components such as electricity, HVAC and plumbing.
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Definition of a building-occupant system
Hospitals and mental hospitals (medical, psychiatric, obstetrical or surgical treatment of in-patients)
Hospital
Reception
Emergency rooms
Examination rooms
Intensive Care Unit…
Cafeteria
Storage units
Electrical rooms…
Atrium
High-rise
Main systems / “functional zones”Support systems Specificities
Hospital
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Targets in functional zones of a hospital
Hospital
Reception
Emergency rooms
Examination rooms
Intensive Care Unit
Patient Rooms
Staff + in-patients (mostly mobile) + visitors
Staff + in-patients (not mobile)
In-patients (not mobile / mobile)
In-patients (not mobile)
Staff + in-patients (not mobile / mobile)
Operating rooms Staff + in-patients (not mobile)
Occupants
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Targets in functional zones of a hospital
Hospital
Reception
Emergency rooms
Examination rooms
Intensive Care Unit
Patient Rooms
Computers (data entry) or paper files
All room (maintain usability)
Life supporting equipment
Life supporting equipment
Equipment for examination (e.g. scanner)
Operating rooms All room (maintain usability)
Functional building components
Electrical room Loss of electricity Occupant affected
Indirect effect
Direct effect
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Functional zones and support systems
Patient room
Operating room
Intensive Care Unit
Storage room
Nurse station
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
“Performance” zoning and FP zoning
Patient room
Operating room
Intensive Care Unit
Storage room
Nurse station
Smoke compartment(illustrative example)
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Characteristics of the new paradigm
• Paradigm associated with the new PBFPD process– In order to mitigate the “event effects” on the system
performance, “acute objectives” have to be set up so to take into consideration “direct effects” and “indirect effects” with which the disruptive events can possibly damage the targets.
• Within this “building-occupant” paradigm, FPEs– Perform a target focused risk analysis– Verify the FP measures are integrated into the system– Indicate the cost/benefits of the FP measures to the
stakeholders
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Overview of the new system specific risk informed performance-based process
Technical steps of the new PBD process
Disruptive event risk
characterization
Target vulnerability
criteria estimation
Disruptive event scenario analysis (quantification
of the likelihood)
Disruptive event scenario analysis (quantification of the impacts)
Evaluation of the integration in the system of the protection
measures against the disruptive
event
Cost-benefit analysis
Political
Stakeholders’ project
definition
Stakeholders’ decision
PoliticalManuscript to be submitted to Building, Research and Information
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Separating the political aspect from the technical aspect of the PBD process
Technical steps of the new PBFPD process
Risk characterization
Target vulnerability
criteria estimation
Scenario analysis
(quantification of the likelihood)
Scenario analysis
(quantification of the impacts)
Evaluation of the integration
of the fire protection
measures in the system
Cost-benefit analysis
stakeholders define the project and present all the characteristics of the “building-occupant” system to examine
the same stakeholders decide on the trial designs proposed by the FPE. This again is a "political" issue. The technical fire
protection engineering is done at that point
Political
Stakeholders’ project
definition
Stakeholders’ decision
PoliticalManuscript to be published in the Journal of Fire Protection Engineering “ A Framework For Risk-Informed PB Fire Protection Design For The Built Environment”
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Technical steps of the new PBFPD process
Risk characterization
Target Vulnerability criteria estimation
Scenario analysis
(quantification of the
likelihood)
Scenario analysis
(quantification of the impacts)
Evaluation of the integration of the fire protection measures in
the system
Cost-benefit analysis
Damage metric
Fre
quen
cy o
f th
e di
srup
tive
eve
nt
Translation of the stakeholders’ concerns in FPE terms: List of system targets
How the targets are affected by the fire
Quantification of the fire risk and proposition of fire protection measures
ʃ
$
Documents for the stakeholders
to make their decisions
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Risk characterization
Damage criteria estimation
Scenario analysis
(quantification of the likelihood)
Scenario analysis
(quantification of the impacts)
Evaluation of the integration
of the fire protection
measures in the system
Cost-benefit analysis
Path to obtain the guidelines to every process step
Guideline or standard
related to the Process Step
Research related to the Process Step
Cli
mbi
ng th
e R
esea
rch
toA
ppli
cati
on /
Reg
ulat
ory
ladd
er For specific systems
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
The Vulcan Initiative: Principal Menu
To help people navigate this web-platform, the Vulcan Initiative is organized around a menu located at the top of each page.
The Vulcan Initiative was created around a new Risk Informed PBFPD process with 5 technical steps at the center of the menu.
Nevertheless, participants from all the spectrum of the Fire Protection Engineering community do not necessarily need to get involved in using this process in order to get benefits from the Vulcan Initiative.
Indeed, FPEs dealing with research or PBD process or engineering issues, may be interested in one aspect of the Vulcan Initiative such as the definition of scenarios or the calculation of fire consequences.
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
The Vulcan Initiative: (1) Projects
A participant to the Vulcan Initiative can propose a Project.
In order to do so, a participant uploads the characteristics of a project, that is to say of a system including building components and occupant distributions.
The ultimate goal of the Vulcan Initiative is to have participants upload a project and successively go through the 5 technical steps of the risk-informed PBD process.
Independently of following this new process, participants could be interested in applying a single step for their own analysis.
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
The Vulcan Initiative: (1) Projects
Applying the 5 steps of the new risk-informed PBFPD process
Applying a particular step of the new risk-informed PBFPD process
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
The Vulcan Initiative: (1) Projects
Applying the 5 steps of the new risk-informed PBFPD process
Applying a particular step of the new risk-informed PBFPD process
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
The Vulcan Initiative: (1) Projects
Applying the 5 steps of the new risk-informed PBFPD process
Applying a particular step of the new risk-informed PBFPD process
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Applying the 5 steps of the new risk-informed PBFPD process
Applying a particular step of the new risk-informed PBFPD process
The Vulcan Initiative: (1) Projects
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Applying the 5 steps of the new risk-informed PBFPD process
Applying a particular step of the new risk-informed PBFPD process
The Vulcan Initiative: (1) Projects
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Applying the 5 steps of the new risk-informed PBFPD process
Applying a particular step of the new risk-informed PBFPD process
The Vulcan Initiative: (1) Projects
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Examples of current PROJECTS
The Vulcan Initiative: (1) Projects
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
One participant to the Vulcan Initiative could be interested in only one step of the new Risk Informed Performance-Based
Fire Protection Design Process
For that purpose, The Vulcan Initiative contains ‘test bed’ environment (or TBE) STUDIES
The Vulcan Initiative: (2) TBE Studies
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
For that purpose, The Vulcan Initiative contains ‘test bed’ environment (or TBE) STUDIES
One participant to the Vulcan Initiative could be interested in only one step of the new Risk Informed Performance-Based
Fire Protection Design Process
The Vulcan Initiative: (2) TBE Studies
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
One participant to the Vulcan Initiative could be interested in only one step of the new Risk Informed Performance-Based
Fire Protection Design Process
For that purpose, The Vulcan Initiative contains ‘test bed’ environment (or TBE) STUDIES
The Vulcan Initiative: (2) TBE Studies
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
One participant to the Vulcan Initiative could be interested in only one step of the new Risk Informed Performance-Based
Fire Protection Design Process
For that purpose, The Vulcan Initiative contains ‘test bed’ environment (or TBE) STUDIES
The Vulcan Initiative: (2) TBE Studies
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
One participant to the Vulcan Initiative could be interested in only one step of the new Risk Informed Performance-Based
Fire Protection Design Process
For that purpose, The Vulcan Initiative contains ‘test bed’ environment (or TBE) STUDIES
The Vulcan Initiative: (2) TBE Studies
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
One participant to the Vulcan Initiative could be interested in only one step of the new Risk Informed Performance-Based
Fire Protection Design Process
For that purpose, The Vulcan Initiative contains ‘test bed’ environment (or TBE) STUDIES
The Vulcan Initiative: (2) TBE Studies
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
For each PBFPD technical step, the FPE has to evaluate parameters relevant to the step using:
- Tools that are appropriate to the analysis,
- Data that is representative of the considered project.
The Vulcan Initiative: (2) TBE Studies
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Fire consequences +Impact on people, contents, and structures
The Vulcan Initiative: (2) TBE Studies
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Occupants
Building type 1
Building type 2
Buildings
Highschool
(Building – Occupant) interactions
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Hospital
Occupants
Building type 1
Building type 2
Buildings
(Building – Occupant) interactions
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Buildings
Fires
Building type 1
Building type 2
Fire in a classroom
Fire in a nursing ward of a hospital
(Building – Fire) interactions
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Occupants
Fires
Building type 1
Building type 2
Students and staff evacuating school
“Patient” being evacuated
(Fire – Occupant) interactions
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Buildings
Fires
Occupants
Entire domain of possibilities
‘Test bed’ environments
Domains of tool validation for the Tool Developers
Domains of interest for the Tool Users
‘Test bed’ Environments
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Tool UserTU
Tool DeveloperTD
AcademiaFire Protection EngineerEngineering
societies
Research Institute
Tools are developed and used to solve problems for which the tools are known to be validated
Defines the problems Provides models,Validates and verifies the tools
Helping the Tool User (TU)-Tool Developer (TD) communication
The actors of the ‘Test bed’ Environment studies
Private company
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Tool UserTU
Built Environment
BE
Project teamFire Protection
EngineerEngineering societies
Authority Having Jurisdiction
Knows the values and characteristics of their built environment
Knows the types of input data in order to run the toolsKnows the problems to be solved
Tools are used to solve well defined problems
Decides the values of the performance criteria
Helping the Tool User (TU)-Built Environment (BE) communication
The actors of the ‘Test bed’ Environment studies
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Creation of a ‘test bed’ environment
Environment in which TU, TD and BE collaborate on the use of tools to solve particular problems and decrease the uncertainties related to the use of tools.
This environment should be structured in order to contain all the input data needed to use the considered tools
Built Environment
BE
ToolDeveloper
TD
Tool User TU
Creating a ‘test bed’ environment
The actors of the ‘Test bed’ Environment studies
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
A dynamic ASET/RSET assessment
Studies related to tools used to estimate fire scenarios consequences
Creation of 3D ‘fuel packages’
global fire effluent production
Near field and far field analyses
Examples of the ‘Test bed’ Environment studies
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Snapshots of an experiment involving the combustion of a mattress with central ignition (source: NIST)
Snapshots of the corresponding “fuel package”: “NIST mattress with corner ignition” (for the same times)
“Fuel package” “NIST couch”“Fuel package” “NIST dresser”
Note the collapse of the dresser at the end of the test
90s 120s 210s 300 s
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Clothing fire data (1)
Use of experimental data (as in SFPE)
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Clothing fire data (2)
Use of experimental data (as published)
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Links to experimental reports
http://firebid.umd.edu/burning-item-database.php
Links to other databasesVulcan Initiative “own”
database
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Item Number:Reference:Document Name:Item Type:Primary Material:Secondary Materials:Mass (kg)Dimensions (m):
Test Type:Burner Type:HRR & Duration:
Max HRR (kW):Time To Max HRR (s):Mass loss (kg/s):Heat of Combustion (MJ /kg):CO Measurement: NS -CO2 Measurement: NS -Soot Measurement: NS -HCl Measurement: NS -HCN Measurement: NS -HBr Measurement: NS -Additional Notes:Additional Notes:
Time (s) Fire Size (kW)0.00E+00 6.00E+001.00E+01 2.30E+016.90E+01 6.50E+011.28E+02 1.25E+021.87E+02 1.99E+022.46E+02 3.19E+023.05E+02 5.96E+023.64E+02 8.95E+024.23E+02 1.76E+034.36E+02 1.68E+034.50E+02 1.55E+034.88E+02 1.07E+035.27E+02 6.38E+025.65E+02 4.49E+026.04E+02 4.32E+026.42E+02 4.63E+026.81E+02 4.99E+027.20E+02 5.12E+027.65E+02 3.67E+02
Furniture Calorimeter
Material Overview5
http: / /fire.nist.gov/fire/fires/dress2/dress2.htmlSmall Dresser NIST Test
Small DresserNSNSNS
Test Overview
NSNS
--
Result Overview1756423
0.00E+00
2.00E+02
4.00E+02
6.00E+02
8.00E+02
1.00E+03
1.20E+03
1.40E+03
1.60E+03
1.80E+03
2.00E+03
0.00E+00 2.46E+02 4.50E+02 6.42E+02
HRR
(kW
)
Time (Seconds)
Small Dresser“NIST dresser”
Fire effluent production
Original HRR data
Photos from test
Usable HRR data
Vulcan Initiative database associated with fire effects tools
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Vulcan Initiative version b
Web address: http://www.vulcan-initiative.net
Release date: summer 2013
If interested in providing information on a project, sharing experience on a technical step, building databases
Email address: [email protected]
A. Alvarez – M. Ferreira – B. Meacham 11 June 2013
Thank you for your attention
And future participation