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PracticalApplicationsofSmokeControlSystems

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HOME > FIRE / SMOKE > PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF SMOKE-CONTROL SYSTEMS

PracticalApplicationsofSmokeControlSystems
Fourbasicdesignmethodstohelppreventsmokemigrationandmaintaina
tenableenvironmentforoccupants
ByALLYNJ.VAUGHN,PE,FSPE,LEEDAP,andBRADR.GEINZER,PE,LEEDAPjba
ConsultingEngineersLasVegas,Nev.|HPACEngineering
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Mar1,2010

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Designcriteriaforsmokecontrolsystemshavechangedovertheyears.Insteadof
ventilatinganaffectedarea,smokecontrolsystemsnowmustpreventthespreadof
smoketononaffectedareasand/orprovideatenableenvironmentintheareaof
incident.Howeffectivearecurrentsmokecontrolsystems?Canbuildingcode
requirementsforsmokecontrolsystemsbemetreasonably?Howcanapplicationsnot
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describedinbuildingcodesbeaddressed?
Smokecontrolsystemrequirementshavebeeninplaceforyears,andsmokecontrol
systemdesignhashadtoadapttobuildingcoderequirementchanges.Thisarticlewill
addresssomepracticaldesignapplicationsofthesesystemsaswellashowbuildingcode
requirementscanbeapplied.Thearticlealsowilladdresswaystoadaptadesigntomeet
buildingcodeintent.
HistoryofSmokeControlRequirements

Smokecontrolsystemshavebeenutilizedinhighrisebuildingssincethemid1970s.In
earlybuildingcodes,mechanicalsystemswererequiredtoprovideaspecificexhaustrate
toventilateaspacebuildingcodeslaterrequiredspecificairchangerates,typicallysix
airchangesperhour(ACH).

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The1994editionoftheUniformBuildingCode(UBC)requiredsmokecontrolsystemsto
bedesignedusingaperformancebasedapproachaccordingtooneoffourbasicdesign
methods:pressurization,passive,airflow,andexhaust.Thesemethodsweretiedto
NationalFireProtectionAssociation(NFPA)standardsforsmokecontrolsystems.Design
criteriaforthepressurization,passive,andairflowmethodsincludedmaintainingsmoke
inthezoneoforigintopreventitsspreadthroughoutabuildingtheexhaustmethod's
criteriaincludedmaintainingthesmokelayerabovethehighestwalkingsurfaceinan
efforttomaintainatenableenvironment.
Sincetheadoptionofthe1994UBC,othermodelcodeshaveincorporatedthesedesign
requirements.TheInternationalBuildingCode(IBC)andInternationalFireCode(IFC)
includelanguagesimilartothatinthe1994UBC.Refinementshavebeenmadetothe
UBCtostaycurrentwithNFPAstandards,butthecriteriahaveremainedmuchthesame
aswhenthefourdesignmethodswereintroducedin1994.
TheIBCrequiressmokecontrolsystemsforatria,threestorycoveredmalls,and
undergroundbuildings,butoffersthemasanoptioninlieuofsmokeventing.Although

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theIBCdoesnotmandatesmokecontrolsystemsforhighrisebuildings,certain
jurisdictionshaveamendedthecodetorequirethem,similartowhatwasrequiredby
previouseditionsoftheUBC.Sinceperformancebaseddesigncriteriawereintroduced,
manybuildingshavebeenoutfittedwithsmokecontrolsystemsusingthisapproach.

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byLawrence(Larry)Clark,
QCxP,GGP,LEEDAP+

PressurizationMethod

Smokecontrolsystemsusingthepressurizationmethodmaintainapressuredifference
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Posted6daysago
inClark'sRemarks

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betweenthezoneinalarmandadjacentzones.Tomaintainaminimumpressure
differenceof0.05in.w.c.,amechanicalsystemtypicallyisconfiguredwith100percent
exhaust,withnosupplyairintroducedintothezone.Zonebarriersarerequiredtobe
intactandcloseddoorsanddampersmustcloseandsealoffthezone.Thisdesign
methodcanbeeffectiveinpreventingthespreadofsmoketootherareasofabuilding
(Figure1).
Thepressurizationmethodismostwidelyusedforareasthathavetheabilitytobesealed,
suchasindividualfloorsandbackofhousespaces.However,barriersneedtobe
maintainedtoensurethezoneenvelopeisintact.Otherwise,thesystemcannotmaintain
therequiredpressuredifference.Maintainingsmokezonebarriersoverlongperiodsof
timecanbedifficult,inpartbecausealterationstospacesadjacenttothebarrierscan
causeleaks.Alterationsalsocanresultinworkonsmokebarrierwallsbypersonnel
unfamiliarwiththewalls'requirements.Withoutproperdocumentationofthelocationof
smokebarrierwalls,alterationscanrenderthesesystemsuseless.Asmokecontrolsystem
designedwiththepressurizationmethodcanbeeffectiveifadjustedproperlyand
maintained.

byLawrence(Larry)Clark,
QCxP,GGP,LEEDAP+
Posted2weeksago
inClark'sRemarks

AcceleratingEnergyProductivity
byLawrence(Larry)Clark,
QCxP,GGP,LEEDAP+
Posted4weeksago
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Sizingexhaustfansforpressurizationsystemscanbechallenging.Theexhaustrequired
toachieveadesiredpressuredifferencedependsonconstructionleakage.Buildingcodes
provideleakageratesthatcanbeusedinchoosinganexhaustfan.However,adesign
mayneedtoaccommodateconstructionthatistighterthanbuildingcodesallow,which
couldresultinoverpressurization.Selectingfanstooperateeffectivelyundervarious
rangesofoperationcanhelpminimizefieldchangesorequipmentreplacementduring
initialcommissioning.
Toovercomeconstructionissuesandaccountforfuturerenovations,variableexhaustfromthespacecan
beutilizedtobuildinsomeformofairflowadjustment.Manydesignersusevariablefrequencydrives
(VFDs)tocontrolfanspeedforHVACdesign.Smokecontrolsystemscanbebalancedbyadjustingtheir
VFDs.Ifpressuresneedtobeadjustedduringinitialsetupandrecommissioning,VFDsettingscanbe
usedtoachievetheproperexhaust,eliminatingtheneedtochangemotorsorotherequipmenttoadjust
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pressuredifferences.UsingVFDsdoesposesomeoperationalrestrictionsbecausetheyarepartofthe
smokecontrolsystemsandshouldnotbeadjustedbypeopleunfamiliarwiththesystems'requirements.

ApracticalapplicationofHVACtechnologyandthedesignofsmokecontrolsystems,the
pressurizationdesignmethodemploysequipmenttoconditionaspaceand
simultaneouslyserveasasmokecontrolsystem.Onceasystemisadjustedproperly,itcan
continuetoprovidetheprotectionintendedbybuildingcodes.However,knowledgeof
systemdesignrequirements,includingthelocationofsmokebarrierwalls,isneededto
maintaintheeffectivenessofasmokecontrolsystem.
ModifiedAirflow/ExhaustMethodforParkingGarages

Parkinggaragesrequiringsmokecontrolpresentuniquechallenges.Itgenerallyhasbeen
acceptedthataparkinggaragemeetingbuildingcoderequirementsforanopengarage
doesnotneedmechanicalsmokecontrolbecausethenumberofopeningsalongthe
buildingperimeterdonotallowsmoketocollectwithinthegarage.Mechanically
ventilatedgaragesposedesignchallengeswhensmokecontrolsystemsarerequired,but
designmethodsintheIBCdonotreadilylendthemselvestopracticalsolutions.Designers
oftenusehybriddesignstoprovideeffectivesmokecontrolinparkinggarages.
Enclosedgaragestypicallyarerequiredtohavemechanicalventilationforvehicleexhaust
(carbonmonoxide[CO])removal.Thesesystemscanbeeffectivelyusedforsmokecontrol
ifcertaindesignparametersareestablished.Untilrecently,theexhaustmethodwasnot
possibleinspacesinwhicha10ftsmokelayerneededtobemaintainedbecauseofthe
limitedclearanceheightofatypicalgarage.The2006IBCloweredthesmokelayer
heightto6ft,makingthisdesignmethodslightlymorepractical,butthelimitedsmoke
layerdepthleavesexhaustinletssusceptibletoplugholing.Also,COexhaustinletsarenot
locatedsolelyattheceiling,meaninganinletcouldbelocatedbelowthesmokelayerif
theexhaustmethodisused.
Thepressurizationmethodalsocanbeusedtofulfillbuildingcodeperformance
requirementsforagarage.Becausethepressurizationmethodrequiresasealedarea,the
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garagewouldrequirerolldowndoorsforanyopenings,suchasdrivelanes.However,
thiscanpresentascenarioinwhichdoorscloseofftrafficlanes,restrictingemergency
responsevehicles.Whilethesmokecontrolsystemwillperformasintendedbycode,itis
notaneffectivesolutionbecauseitcanrestrictemergencyresponseaccess.
Ahybriddesigncombiningtheexhaustandairflowmethodsalsocanbeusedforsmoke
controlinenclosedparkinggarages.Thisconceptprovidesanexhaustrateforthegarage
whilemaintainingvelocitiesoflessthan200fpmacrossanopening,asrequiredbythe
airflowmethod.Thehybriddesignrecognizesthatgaragescannoteffectivelyhavea
smokelayerheightofeven6ftabovethefloorbecauseoflimitedclearancesandthe
amountofductworkroutingrequiredtoextractsmokeattheceilinglevel.Whilethis
approachisnotoneoftheprescribedbuildingcodedesignmethods,itcanbeeffectivein
exhaustingsmokefromanenclosedgarageusingequipmentalreadyinplace.
Additionally,theuseofVFDscanallowtheadjustmentoffansinthefieldtoachievethe
desiredairflow.
ExhaustMethodforLargeSpaces

Usingtheexhaustmethodforverylargeareas,suchasanassemblyspaceorcasino,isa
practicalchoiceforsmokecontrol.Relativelyhighceilingsandcommonreturnair
plenumsmakeexhaustinglargequantitiesofairstraightforward.Makeupaircancome
fromadjoiningareas.Draftcurtainscanseparatealargespacefromadjoiningretail
promenades,meetingrooms,restaurants,etc.
However,variousissuesneedtobeaddressedwhentheexhaustmethodisbeing
consideredforalargespace.Smokezoneareasmaybecometoolarge,requiringmultiple
smokeexhaustfans.Exhaustfansshouldbewithin200ftofafireforsmoketobe
extracted.Forlargeopenareas,multiplefansarenecessarytolimitthetravelofsmoke
fromthefiretotheexhaustinlet.Whenmultiplefansareused,theexhaustquantityis
increased,whichimpactstheabilitytoprovideadequatemakeupair.Asingleextraction
pointcanprovide50,000cfmofexhausteasilywhenmakeupairisequaltotheexhaust
rate.However,ifalargezonerequiresfourextractionpoints,theincreasedtotalexhaust
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andmakeupairrateof200,000cfmismoredifficulttoaccommodate.
Tomanagelargeareasusingtheexhaustmethod,smallersmokezonesareneeded.Utilizingsmaller
zonesreducestheamountofexhaustandhelpsmanagemakeupair.However,creatingsmallerzones
withinalargerarearequiresadditionalsmokedampers,aswellasdraftcurtainsbelowceilings.These
itemswillincreaseconstructioncostsandcouldhavenegativeeffectsontheaestheticsofaspace.Draft
curtainsaredifficulttocreateinhighceilingareas.

Amorepracticalsolutionistomodifytheexhaustapproach,utilizingtheentireareaasa
singlesmokezoneandcreatingsmalleractivationzoneswithinthecommonsmokezone
(Figure2).Thisworkswellwhenacommonreturnairplenumisused.Anoverallsmoke
zonesurroundedbyappropriateboundarywallscontainsmultipleactivationzonesthat
areservedindividuallybysmokeexhaustfanschosenbasedonthedesignfire
size/smokelayerheightandcorrespondingsmokeexhaustrateintheactivationzone.
Whenasmokecontrolsystemisactivated,allofthesmokeexhaustfanswithinthe
activationzoneareenergized.Thisprovidestherequiredexhaustratefortheactivation
zoneandobtainsmakeupairfromadjoiningzones,keepingvelocitiesacrosstheopenings
fortheoverallsmokezonewithinbuildingcoderequiredlimits.

Smokemigrationtootheractivationzonesisnotconsideredanissuebecausethesmokeis
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withinthesamesmokezone.However,becauseexhaustinletsarelocatedwithinthe
activationzone,smokehasatendencytobedrawntowardtheexhaustfansinoperation.
Thislimitsthepotentialforsmokedamageremotefromtheareaofincidencewhile
keepinginitialconstructionexpensesdown.Draftcurtainsarenotrequiredbetween
activationzonesbecausetheyaretreatedassubzonestotheoverallsmokezone.Thiscan
beaneffectivewaytoproviderequiredsmokecontrolwhileminimizingtheimpactonthe
constructioncostsandaestheticsofaspace.
ExhaustMethodforTallAtria

Sincethe1980s,atriahavebeenrequiredtohavesmokecontrolsystems.Designcriteria
inearlybuildingcodeswerebasedontheairchangemethod,inwhichthevolumeofthe
spacedictatedtherequiredexhaustairquality.(Alargeratriamayrequireonlyfour
ACH,whileasmalleratriamayrequiresix.)Morerecentbuildingcodeshave
recommendedtheexhaustdesignmethod,whichmaintainsthesmokelayeratacertain
height.
NFPAexhaustmethodstandardsincludeformulasthatdependontwobasicvariables:
theheightofthesmokelayerabovethefireandthefiresize.Theheightofthesmoke
layerisdictatedbybuildingdesign,andthefiresizeisdictatedbyfuelloadsand
suppressionsystemdesign.Whilethedensityoftheairatthesmokelayerhassome
impact,smokelayerheightandfiresizearemoreimportantissuesfortheequations.
Buildingdesigndictatessmokelayerheightbecauseasmokelayermustbeaminimumof
6ftabovethehighestwalkingsurface.Withintallatria,thiscanbeveryhigh.Unlessthe
spaceisredesigned,thisvariablecannotbechanged.Firesizecanbeadaptedtothe
spacebylimitingfuelorcontrollingthefireinitsearlyinceptionstagewithquick
responsesprinklersordetectionsystemsoperatingdelugesystems.
TheequationsfoundinNFPAstandardscanproducelargeexhaustrequirementsfortallatria.Building
codesalsorequireanequalamountofmakeupairproducedbymechanicalornaturalmeansora
combinationofthetwo.Buildingcodeslimitmakeupairtonomorethan200fpmofairflowtowardthe
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fire.Whilelargequantitiesofexhaustaircanbedifficulttomanage,tacklinglargequantitiesofmakeup
airisevenmoredifficult.Buildingsoftenhaveinsufficientspacetoallowventsandlouverstointroduce
makeupairundertheprescribedmaximumvelocity.

Makeupairmustbeintroducedbelowthesmokelayer.Intallspaces,multiplelevelsmay
beavailabletointroducemakeupair.Insmallerareas,wallspacemaybeinsufficient.In
thesecases,operablepanelsordoorsinanexteriorwallcanbeusedtointroducemakeup
airbynaturalmeans.Makeupairalsocanbeintroducedbyadjacentzoneswhen
multiplezonesarepresent(Figure3).

Makeupaircanbedifficulttoprovideinatriabecauseofthephysicalconstraintsofthe
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buildingdesign.Tallatriawithwalkingsurfaceslocatednearthetopcanrequireexhaust
ratesexceeding300,000to400,000cfm.Whenmakeupairisequaltotheexhaustrate
andlimitedtonomorethan200fpm,smokecontrolsystemscanrequireupto1,500to
2,000sqftoffreeventarea.Ifgrillesareused,thefreeareaoftenismuchsmallerthan
theactualsizeofthegrille.Ifpanelsordoorsareused,alargequantitymaybeneededto
meetthefreearearequirements.
Therearewaystolimittheimpactofsmokecontrolintallatria.Thebestmethodisto
reducetheheightofthehighestwalkingsurfaceintheatriumorprovideawayto
separatethewalkingsurfacefromtheatriumunderafirecondition,suchaswithfire
shutters.Ifthebuildingdesigncannotaccommodateeitheroption,thefiresizeneedsto
belimitedwithsprinklercontrolandsmallerfuelloads.Anotherapproachistousea
computationalflowanalysistodetermineactualexhaustquantitiesbasedonperformance
objectives.ThesetypesofanalysescanhelpreduceNFPAstandardexhaustratesfor
exhaustmethodsystemsorallowhighervelocitiesinmakeupairflowrates.
Ifmakeupaircanbemanaged,benefitsoftheexhaustdesignmethodincludetheability
toopenadjacentzonestooneanother.Exhaustmethodsmokecontrolsystemsalsoare
easiertocommissionbecausetheydonotrelyonthebalancingofpressuredifferences.
Conclusion

Smokecontrolsystemshavebeenrequiredbybuildingcodesfordecades.Formuchof
thistime,designcriteriawerestraightforward.Forthelast16years,smokecontroldesign
hasfocusedonperformancecriteriabasedonthephysicsoffire.Applyingthedesign
methodsfoundincurrentcodeshasposedsomeuniquechallenges.Often,theprescribed
approachdoesnotfitwithinabuilding'sconstraints.Inthesesituations,designersare
requiredtoadaptormodifythedesignsothesystemscanpreventsmokemigration
effectively.Duringthelast16years,HVACprofessionalshavelearnedhowtomeet
buildingcoderequirementseffectivelyandadaptadesigntomeetabuildingcode's
intent.
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Currentsmokecontrolsystemscanbeveryeffectiveinmeetingbuildingcodedesign
criteria.Usingpressurizationorpassivedesignmethods,smokecontrolsystemscanbe
effectiveinpreventingthespreadofsmokethroughoutabuilding.Theexhaustmethod
canhelpsmokecontrolsystemsbeeffectiveincreatingatenableenvironment.Howthe
systemsareadaptedtoarespectivebuildingdependsonwhetherapracticalapproach
hasbeenused.Themoreelaboratethesystem,themorechancesforfailure.With
practicalapplicationanddesign,coderequirementsbothprescribedandintended
canbeachievedintoday'sbuildings.

VicepresidentofgrowthmarketsforjbaConsultingEngineers,AllynJ.Vaughn,PE,
FSPE,LEEDAP,hasmorethan28yearsofexperienceinfireprotectionandsmoke
controlsystemdesignandcommissioning.Hehasbeenresponsibleforthirdparty
testingofsmokecontrolsystemsinLasVegasformorethan13years.Vicepresidentof
engineeringforjbaConsultingEngineers,BradR.Geinzer,PE,LEEDAP,hasmore
than20yearsofexperienceinsmokecontrolsystemdesignandcommissioning.Hewas
involvedinthedesignandcommissioningofthefirstLasVegasbuildingtousethe
performancebasedcriteriaofthe1994editionoftheUniformBuildingCode.

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