- Author
- Bukowski, R. W.
- Title
- Is There a Need to Enclose Elevator Lobbies in Tall Buildings?
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Journal
- Building Safety Journal, Vol. 3, No. 4, 26-31, August 2005
- Keywords
- elevators (lifts) | building codes | scenarios | failure | leakage | stack effect | weather effects | temperature | smoke spread | methodology | sprinkler systems | computer programs
- Identifiers
- shaft flow analysis; CFAST (Consolidated Fire growth And Smoke Transport); CONTAM; building characteristics; flow paths; flow coefficients and equivalent leakage areas for building flow paths; limiting the spread of smoke in shafts
- Abstract
- Several proposals have been submitted in recent years to model building code organizations to require enclosure of elevator lobbies in order to restrict the movement of smoke to other parts of buildings via hoistways. A significant development in this area occurred recently when the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) - which was already involved with a consortium of industry representatives, codes and standards developers, and other interested parties in a study of the protection of elevators for occupant evacuation and fire service access - was asked by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to research the conditions under which enclosed elevator lobbies were called for. This article will provide an overview of the progress made to date on this line of research.