Total Evac Systems for Tall Buildings Literature Review

Introduction

Building evacuation strategies are a critical element in high rise building fire safety. Research to date has focused on elevators and exit stairs; however, there is a need to apply this research to relocation and evacuation systems which may include combinations of these two exit strategies as well as new egress components such as sky bridges for tall buildings. Accordingly, the Fire Protection Research Foundation initiated this project with the objective to study possible improvements to life safety of tall buildings through an investigation of occupant relocation and evacuation strategies involving the use of exit stairs, elevators, sky bridges and combinations thereof. The study consists of a review and compilation of existing information on this topic as well as the conduct of case study simulations of a multi component exit strategy. This review provides the architectural design, regulatory, and research communities with a more thorough understanding of the current and emerging evacuation procedures and possible future options. This report documents the literature review that was undertaken for the project.