rop meeting minutes - national fire protection … · humidity in both the hot aisle and the cold...

Minutes_NFPA-76 2011-ROCMtg R3.doc

TEL-AAA April 11-13, 2010 ROC Meeting Minutes

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ROC MEETING MINUTES

NFPA 76 Technical Committee on Telecommunications Facilities

Monday-Wednesday April 11-13, 2011 Doubletree Hotel, Dallas, TX

1. Call to Order

The meeting of the Technical Committee on Telecommunication Facilities at the Doubletree Hotel in Dallas was called to order by Chair Steve Dryden at 8:00 AM.

2. Introduction of Committee Members and Guests Self introductions of members and guests were completed. Wednesday, April 13, was a joint meeting of NFPA 75 and NFPA 76 committee members. Those present are indicated below:

TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS & GUESTS

NAME REPRESENTING PRESENT

Dryden, Steve, Chair Poole Fire Protection, Inc. X

Dittrich, Bob, Secretary Honeywell, Inc. –Rep. National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)

X

Ackley, Jon, Alternate to Michael Bosma Dalmation Fire, Inc. X

Belliveau, Len, Principal Hughes Associates X

Betz, Jeff, Principal AT&T X Bosma, Principal The Viking Corp.

Carman, Tim, Principal Tyco X

Chambers, Brent, Principal Liberty Mutual, Rep. Property Casualty Insurers Association of America

X

Clark, Tom, Alternate to Bob Gardner Marsh USA, Inc.

Cordts, Brandon, Principal 3M Company

Custer, Dick, Principal Arup Fire

DeGiorgio, Vincent, Principal FM Global X

Driggers, Mickey, Principal Qwest Communications X Finnegan, Dan, Alternate to Ron Ouimette Siemens Industry, Inc. X

Franchuk, Darrell, Alternate to Charles Quillin HSB Professional Loss Control X

Gardner, Bob, Principal Marsh Risk Consulting X

Hofmeister, Craig, Principal The RJA Group

Ingram, Jonathan, Principal UTC/Kidde-Fenwal, Inc. X

Kirk, Humbrecht, Principal Phoenix Fire Systems

Kaufman, Stan, Principal CableSafe, Inc./OFS Rep. Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc.

X

Lang, Scott, Alternate to Bob Dittrich Honeywell Intl., System Sensor X

Lund, Mark, Alternate to Brandon Cordts 3M Company

Marts, Ron, Principal Telcordia Technologies X

Milardo, Noura, Alternate to Vincent DeGiorgio FM Global



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Nelson, Paul, Alternate to Kirk Humbrecht Orr Protection Systems, Inc. X Norton, Tom, Principal Norel Service Company X

O’Connor, Dan, Principal Aon Fire Protection Engineering Ouimette, Ron, Principal Siemens Building Technologies X

Pikula, Bob, Principal Reliable Fire Equipment Company X

Pradel, Brad, Alternate to Brent Chambers Liberty Mutual Property X

Quillin, Chuck, Principal HSB Professional Loss Control X

Quirk, David, Alternate to Thomas Ziegler Verizon Wireless X

Reiswig, Rodger, Alternate to Timothy Carman Tyco/SimplexGrinnell X

Shapiro, Andrew, Alternate to Mickey Driggers Qwest Communications

Slagle, Chuck, Principal Sprint Corp. X

Stein, Ron, Alternate to Daniel O’Connor Aon Global Risk Consultants X

Transue, Ralph , Alternate to Craig Hofmeister The RJA Group, Inc. X

Ziegler, Tom, Principal Verizon X

Backstrom, Bob, Nonvoting Member Underwriters Laboratories Inc.

Cleary, Thomas, Nonvoting Member N.I.S.T.

Netanel, Shmuel, Nonvoting Member Eldan Safety Engineers Group

Bielen, Richard, NFPA Staff Liaison National Fire Protection Association X

Hart, Jonathan, NFPA Staff Liaison National Fire Protection Association X

Rivers, Paul, Guest 3 M X

Moody, Mark, Guest X

Robin, Mark, Guest X

Stevens, Joseph, Guest X

Tokarsky, E, Guest X

Langer, Robert, NFPA 75 X

McCluer, Steve, NFPA 75 X

Puig, Richard, NFPA 75 X

Salwan, Sam, NFPA 75 X

Schwartz, William, NFPA 75 X

Willard, Randy, NFPA 75 X

3. Announcements

NFPA Staff briefly reviewed the purpose of the meeting and NFPA’s procedures. Jonathan Hart

was introduced as the new Staff Liaison for the committee. Key dates were published in

the meeting notice as:

Dates for ROC Meeting April 11-13, 2011 Ballots Mailed to TC before May 20, 2011 ROC Published August 26, 2011 Intent to Make a Motion Closing (NITMAM) October 21, 2011 Issuance of Consent Document (No NITMAMs) December 13, 2011 NFPA Annual Meeting (Las Vegas) June 2012 Issuance of Document with NITMAM August 9, 2012



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4. Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the June 22-24 Overland park, KS meeting were approved without any changes.

5. Task Group Reports

Ralph Transue reported on NFPA 75/76 convergence issues, and NFPA correlation issues related

to language in article 645 of the National Electrical Code. He is also gathering a list of possible

research projects. Some of these were also discussed at the SupDet conference in March.

Dave Quirk presented extensive work on a task group studying HVAC air containment systems.

This was supported by an animated PowerPoint presentation. HVAC airflow containment

products were researched during 20+ conference calls over 3 months. The objective of air

containment is to save energy and to maintain proper temperature conditions at the inlet to the

equipment. ASHRAE TC9.9 guidelines were referenced for control of air flow, temperature, and

humidity in both the hot aisle and the cold aisle using collar containment systems. Air

containment systems are not plenums; they are part of the equipment. The task group worked on

fire prevention, detection, suppression, and response. Requirements of the 2013 California Green

Building code were presented. To save energy, inlet temperatures are now approaching 100 deg.,

with 130 deg. on the outlet. Occupancy by operating personnel is now becoming an issue. There

may be OSHA conflicts with high temperatures in normal occupancy.

Vinnie DeGiorgio gave a presentation on increased use of combustible plastics in data centers.

These are being used in cable ducts, and the partitions used in air containment systems, resulting

in an increased fuel load in equipment spaces. Server rack fire behavior would be a good topic for

research. What are the ignition source and the combustible load? Fire spread, smoke generation,

risk tolerance (redundant location) and the effects of out-gassing caused by exposure of plastics to

elevated temperatures over time could also be examined. UL 60950 and FM 4910 are relevant

standards. Servers are running hotter which has an effect on the materials used in these areas.

Manufacturer’s data on flame spread and smoke developed for various materials was presented.

After discussion, the committee decided to stay with 50 and 450 values that are in the current

NFPA 76 draft. See the committee action on Log # 13.

Jeff Betz presented the Detection Task Group report. As discussed at SupDet, more research on

spot detection in hot aisle/cold aisle is needed. Sampling detection may work better. Other issues

discussed in the task group included detection types, levels, and lack of substantiation on 2500 sq.

ft.. KW fire size, sensitivity levels, and spacing limits have not been reaffirmed in the last 20

years. The task group suggested that NFPA 76 may want to look at the entire CO environment.

There is also a need to look at the tools of the trade. Once an alarm is received, how can we

prevent a fire, or deal with pre-alarm conditions. What should be the response to a pre-alarm

condition? What are the benchmarks that should be identified?

6. Action on Comments

The committee acted upon 13 public comments and created 2 new committee comments. Many

of these dealt with definitions, and references to other standards. The majority of the committee’s

effort was done with modifications to comment log # 13, 8.2.3 Aisle Containment Systems for

Telecommunications Equipment. After much discussion and debate, this item was accepted in

principal with the changes that will be noted in the ROC. A CC1 was discussed to address an

error in the language of 6.11.6.1 & 2. The committee previously changed MDF to Signal

Processing area in error. A motion to accept was passed. The substantiation will be that it

corrects an unintentional change. CC2 was accepted as a motion change all references from UL



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2024A to 2024 since UL 2024A has been withdrawn and merged into 2024.

7. Old Business

There was no old business.

8. New Business

There was no new business.

9. Adjournment

The NFPA 76 committee meeting was adjourned at 4:00 pm.

10. Joint NFPA 75/76 Meeting on Wednesday, April 13

This meeting was chaired by Ralph Transue. The meeting began at 9:11 am. Jonathan Hart

mentioned that it is too early to pick a date for the next NFPA 76 meeting. No meeting is required

if there are NITMAMs. Most likely the next meeting will be to kick off the next cycle. There is

talk of NFPA 75/76 convergence, but most people want to keep the two documents separate.

Wednesday was to be an informational day without any voting. NFPA 76 committee actions

were summarized for the benefit of NFPA 75 members who were not present earlier in the week.

Car pool arrangements made for tour. The Chairman commented on containment systems, which

add combustible load to areas where we are trying to minimize combustibles. Many containment

systems are being added to existing facilities. SupDet was organized to support these two

committees. A comment was made that NFPA 76 is based on practices of the past. Possible

research projects were planned to be discussed after the Verizon tour.

Dave Quirk gave the Air Containment Task Group report. ICT (Information & Communication

Technology) requirements are being driven into the energy codes such as the 2013 California

Green Building Code, and will have mandatory requirements. The air collars (chimneys) are not

plenums. They are part of the equipment.

Vinnie De Giorgio repeated Monday’s Combustible Plastics PowerPoint presentation.

Ralph Transue mentioned that NFPA 75 extracted material from NEC article 645. EPO

emergency power off requirements appeared first in NFPA 75; then were put into the NEC. The

history of this issue was explained. Perhaps there is no longer a need for all the “under floor”

requirements, such as an EPO- big red button. There is a task group of NFPA 75/76 members on

text which is now in article 645 permitting alternatives to the EPO big red button. Three

alternatives were presented: 1: big red button; 2: big red button somewhere else at a constantly

attended location; or 3: disconnect by procedural means, trained staff, using normal switch gear

operations. This is now allowed under 645. NEC 645 text was adopted into NFPA 75, so NFPA

75 can now control on when and where. But some of the 645 extractions were not done exactly,

some were editorialize.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:00 am for the Verizon data center tour in Irving, TX. The

meeting reconvened at 2:00 pm. Details of what was seen on the tour were discussed extensively.

Discussions continued on NFPA 75 NEC article 645 issues without any conclusions. Debate was

planned to continue at the NFPA 75 meetings on Thursday and Friday. The joint NFPA 76/75

meeting adjourned shortly before 5:00 pm.

Robert G. Dittrich, Secretary, NFPA 75

Air Containment Task Group ReportNFPA75 ROCNFPA76 ROC

April 2011Dallas, Texas

2

NFPA 75 & 76 ROP ActionsJoint Task Group on Air Containment

Task Group ObjectivesTask Group Participants and EffortsAir Containment Systems 101Purpose of them Industry driversTypes and configurations

Topics CoveredPlenum IssueFire Resistance & MaterialsSuppressionDetectionOther topics (detachable links, etc)

Overview

3

• Review FIRE PROTECTION risks, potential hazards, the application, and general fire safety requirements associated with HVAC airflow containment products and strategies that are installed in Data Centers and Telecommunications facilities. Perform a review of existing published literature on the topic.

• Recommend necessary research to NFPA and FPRF to uncover unknown or uncertain aspects related to the above review.

• Develop proposals that provide a MINIMUM level of fire protection in accordance with the scope of each Standard, necessary to minimize risks associated with fire and the associated loss of services and/or information.

Task Group Objectives

Task Group AttendanceParticipants Representation Affiliations Voting PresentDavid Quirk (chair) End User NFPA76 & ASHRAE

TC9.9Alt

Stephen McCluer (co-chair)

End User NFPA 75 Y

Ron Marts Consultant NFPA 76/75 YJeff Betz End User NFPA 76 YBrian Rawson OEM NFPA 75 YBob Pikula FP manufacturer NFPA 76/75 Y

Ralph Transue Consultant NFPA 76/75 YCharles QuillinDarrell Franchuk

Insurance NFPA 76 Y

Steve Dryden Consultant NFPA 76 YVincent Degiorgio Insurance NFPA 76 YBob RexScott Lang

FP Manufacturer NFPA 76 Y

Wayne Aho Manufacturer NFPA 75 YJonathan Ingram FP manufacturer NFPA 76 Y

Tom Wysocki FP manufacturer NFPA75 Y

Potential non-committee representatives from containment manufacturingMax Hibner Containment

ManufacturerASHRAE TC9.9 N

Rich Kluge Consultant NBrian DonahueDave Lucia

Containment Manufacturer

N

Paul Rivers FP manufacturer N

Dan Dahl Consultant

4

Task Group Stats: 19 participants 9 – NFPA76 7 – NFPA75 5 – General industry All stakeholders

represented ASHRAE

represented

20 conference calls

Airflow containment solutions are used by HVAC and Information & Communication Technology (ICT) professionals to reduce the unintended mixing of HVAC cooling airflows to serve the following performance objectives: Ensure proper entering air conditions on ICT hardware in accordance

with ASHRAE TC9.9, Thermal Guidelines (www.ashrae.org) or directly (http://www.techstreet.com/cgi-bin/browsePublisher?publisher_id=33&subgroup_id=34767)

Elevate return air temperatures at the HVAC equipment, which drives up system Coefficient Of Performance (COP) / increases energy efficiency, thereby reducing energy consumption and associated costs.

Elevate return air temperatures at the HVAC equipment, to permit additional hours of economizer operation (compressor free cooling), thereby reducing energy consumption and associated costs.

Containment is commonly separated into 1 of 2 categories: Hot aisle containment OR cold aisle containment.

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HVAC Air Containment 101

http://www.ashrae.org/�

6

Data Center• Raised Floor Air Distribution• Hot/Cold Aisle Cooling Environment• Higher power densities• Server-Centric hardware - AC

powered

Telecom• Overhead Air Distribution• Mixed Cooling Environment• Lower power densities• Variety of network equipment that are

low voltage DC powered

CR

AC

Equ

ip.

Equ

ip.

FR

Cable Racks

F R


CR

AC

Dropped Ceiling

Equ

ip.

Equ

ip.

RR F F

7

UnderfloorCold aisle containment

OverheadCold aisle containment

HVA

C

ICT

Equ

ip.


HVA

C

Dropped Ceiling

ICT

Equ

ip.

8

UnderfloorHot aisle containment

OverheadHot aisle containment

HVA

C

ICT

Equ

ip.


HVA

C

Dropped Ceiling

ICT

Equ

ip.

9

Underfloor“hot collar” containment

Overhead“hot collar” containment

HVA

C

ICT

Equ

ip.


HVA

C

Dropped Ceiling

ICT

Equ

ip.

10

Examples

Hot Air Collars Blanking plates to prevent recirculation airflow

11

Examples

Curtains

Contained hot aisle with in-row cooling

Air re-circulated at the floor level only

Air flow, top viewHot air is trapped under Ceiling tiles

Cooling units in row with ICTE equipment

Examples

13

Air Containment – Items reviewed

PREVENTION•Materials of construction•Listings, combustibility, flammability, etc•Plenums issue

DETECTION•Detector locations•Response times•Temperatures on detectors

SUPPRESSION•Obstructions for sprinklers•Gas concentrations•Removable obstructions

RESPONSE• Impact to detection response• Impact on suppression response• Ability to find fire for first responders

Increasing Use of C b tibl Pl ti iCombustible Plastics in Worldwide Data CentersWorldwide Data Centers

March 2011March 2011

Vinnie DeGiorgioVinnie DeGiorgioPrincipal Engineer

FM Global

The Graduate ‐ 1967The Graduate 1967

Types of Combustible PlasticsTypes of Combustible Plastics

• Rigidg– PVC, lexan (polycarbonate), plexiglass (PMAA), polyethylene and polypropylene

• Flexible– PVC polyurethane kynarPVC, polyurethane, kynar

• Foam– Polyurethane– Elastomeric RubberNeoprene rubber– Neoprene rubber

Properties of Combustible Plastics•Heat Release Rate

– 2‐3 times > ordinary•Toxic Gases

– hydrogen cyanide, HCL,2 3 times > ordinary combustibles

•Burning Rate

hydrogen cyanide, HCL, phosgene

•Flaming Drips•Burning Rate– 10 times > ordinary

combustibles

•Flaming Drips– thermoplastics tend to

melt & flow when heated

•Smoke Produced– Very dense, sooty, black

•Corrosion– severe corrosion damage

smoke potential to sensitive electronic equipment & metal surfaces

ASTM E84 – Standard Test Method for Surface Burning Characteristics of Building Materials (UL 723)Characteristics of Building Materials (UL 723)

• 24ft. long x 20 in. wide specimens exposed tospecimens exposed to controlled –88 kw methane flame–240 ft. /min air flow

•Flame spread, fuel contribution & smoke arecontribution & smoke are measured• Flame spread is pobserved through windows

ASTM E84 – Standard Test Method for Surface Burning Characteristics of Building Materials (UL 723)Characteristics of Building Materials (UL 723)

Provides a comparative measurement of surface flame spread & smoke density measurementspread & smoke density measurement

Per ASTM E84 – Standard Test Method for Surface B i Ch t i ti f B ildi M t i l (UL 723)Burning Characteristics of Building Materials (UL 723)

• Does not provide the effect of aggravated flameDoes not provide the effect of aggravated flame spread behavior of an assembly resulting from the proximity to walls and ceiling (x, 2x, 4x)p y g ( , , )

• Testing materials that melt drip or delaminate to• Testing materials that melt, drip or delaminate to such a degree that the continuity of the flame front is interruptedfront is interrupted– Results in low flame spread & smoke density measurements

Cables(Data Center Equipment Room)

CablesUnder Raised Floor

Cable Flammability

Fiber Optic Raceways/Routing Assemblies

Cables Trays

Hot/Cold Aisle ContainmentHot/Cold Aisle Containment

Computer Room Air Conditioning ( )(CRAC) Units

Acoustical foam insulation inside

Chilled Water PipingData Center

ASTM E84Flame Spread = 25 Data CenterpSmoke Developed = 50

FM4910 ‐ Fire Propagation Index = 6.6 FM4910 ‐ Smoke Development Index = 0.35

In Row Cooling Data CenterData Center

Combustible Foam Insulation

Chilled Water Distribution UnitData CenterData Center

C b ibl FCombustible Foam Insulation

Foam Insulation – Under Raised Floor Data CenterData Center

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