By Molly Kalmus, Research Assistant
The Christian Regenhard Center for Emergency Response Studies (RaCERS)
Although associated with 9/11 and the World Trade Center, the issue of managing emergencies in high-rise buildings goes back into the 1970s, when new construction techniques and technologies helped create awareness of the hazards of fire and smoke spread in modern high-rise.
Since then, the study of evacuating high-rise buildings has continued to evolve. On May 5, 2010, a seminar at John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York reviewed some of the more promising developments. Issues addressed were: 1) use of elevators for evacuation under fire conditions; 2) pre-incident planning and retrieval of building information; and 3) engineering security concerns in high-rise design and operations.
Dr. Norman Groner, a specialist in human factors under emergency conditions and an associate professor at John Jay College, spoke about his work on a task group of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers committee developing rules for design of elevators for use in fire conditions.
While the topic of elevator use during fires is controversial, Groner stressed that running hazard analyses on numerous possible real-world scenarios would better prepare the designs of such systems. However, such systems will place new demands for fire and emergency service personnel to manage during high-rise evacuations.
Groner emphasized the required improvements to the physical infrastructure of new high-rise buildings, such as installation of sprinkler systems, fully enclosed elevator lobbies with stair access, and communication from the enclosed elevator lobbies to the building’s fire command station. While many of the system operations will be automated, he pointed out the need for emergency service personnel to be able to override such controls during an evolving incident.
Additionally, Groner discussed the need for extra emergency power capacity to run the elevators and their communication centers, as well as the need for the elevators to be protected from water infiltration.
Other important points highlighted the need for elevator control mechanisms to be compatible with the firefighter service, the need for a national standard regarding elevator use during emergency evacuations, and the need for redundant information features (such as fire wardens), to ensure the safety of everyone in the building. Groner stressed that the practice has already been accepted in Europe and the Far East, and that the faster evacuation times and ability to deal with mobility-impaired occupants could be major improvements in safety.
Jack Murphy, a consultant in high-rise incident management and planning and adjunct faculty member at John Jay College, laid out concepts for development, storage and retrieval of pre-incident planning information for high-rise buildings. He described the role of information technology, and the need for building management and the emergency services to communicate and understand each others’ needs before an incident.
Murphy related these concepts to compliance with evolving FDNY regulations growing from Local Law 26 (2004), which created requirements for Emergency Action Plans designed to address management of occupants under non-fire emergencies. Understanding building management and smoke management systems and being able to use them during an emergency to help mitigate an event are critical.
The ability to store and transmit information such as floor plans and locations of key infrastructure was also discussed, and Murphy showed some emerging solutions using handheld computers, mobile computers in emergency vehicles and displays at the building fire command station. Such systems also allow for sharing of information between different first-responder disciplines in real-time, promoting better incident management and response.
Finally, Murphy discussed breathing air supply systems to replenish air tanks on upper stories of high-rise buildings. While they are gaining in popularity in the western United States, they’ve largely been met with skepticism on the East Coast. He pointed out the personnel needs associated with managing logistics of SCBA bottle supplies and refilling from recent major incidents.
Security in engineering design was addressed by Lt. Cmdr. David Kelly of the New York Police Department Counter-Terrorism Division, Threat Reduction Infrastructure Protection Section, who introduced “Engineering Security: Protective Design for High-Rise Buildings,” a self-help guide written for high-rise building designers and managers.
This guide, released in 2009, is intended as a voluntary supplement to building and fire codes. Major areas addressed include threats from explosive devices, the NYPD’s Risk-Tiering system, perimeter security, access control, screening and monitoring, emergency preparedness, and air handling and monitoring. The guide is available free of charge through New York City’s government website.
The guide provides a method for estimating a building’s risk profile, a methodology that builds on the equation Risk = Threat x Vulnerability x Impact. Threats include established methods and approaches for attacking a structure, as well as specific threats known to be facing a particular building. Vulnerability includes adjacency to other high-risk buildings or structures, ease of access, and structural resistance to damage from an attack. Impact concerns include occupancy, height, and criticality, as well as proximity to transportation or other critical infrastructure elements.
“There continues to be a need for improved management of large-scale events in a high-rise environment,” said RaCERS director Charles Jennings, who is also on the college’s faculty. “By bringing together security and fire safety experts, we hope to continue the dialogue on these issues and stay at the forefront to be able to critically inform first responders. This event highlights the need for research on real-world issues associated with these buildings.”