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StAtEmENt Of quAlifiCAtiONS

Atrium Smoke Management

Uncompromised AtriaLarge open spaces like atria, transit stations, airports

and stadia can require smoke management systems

to address life safety concerns in the building codes.

Often the exhaust flow rates cited as code requirements

can adversely affect the aesthetic qualities of the spaces

and add significant costs without much perceived value.

Recent interest in using natural ventilation for

normal mode ventilation as well as atrium smoke

management, is a result of an effort to reduce cost,

implement additional sustainable design elements

into buildings and potentially reduce complexity

of the systems. The use of natural ventilation has

other challenges in that the viability of the system is

highly dependent on the effects of wind; temperature

of the fire smoke plume; and stack effect among

other physics. In some circumstances a zero flow

smoke management system is more robust than

having one that naturally vents to the atmosphere.

Regardless of the overall strategy, the authority

having jurisdiction ultimately has the final decision

in the acceptability of an atrium smoke management

system. These individuals must be confident that a

proposed system will provide the required protection.

RWDI has developed a process and track record

of implementing atrium smoke management

systems in complex spaces. In addition, the

team has demonstrated a smoke management

system does not require any exhaust to

make the space safe in some cases.

ProcessRWDI has a two-stage process that can be used to

develop an atrium smoke management system:

� Design Review: At this stage the atrium is assessed

to evaluate i) egress options; ii) likely fire scenarios;

iii) smoke production rates; iv) the viability of lower

exhaust flow rates; and v) conceptual designs of

atrium smoke management systems. Not all atria

require a sophisticated egress model: sometimes set

of simple hand calculations are all that is required.

These steps together can be used to develop smoke

management concepts and demonstrate that the

design will provide sufficient egress time.

(Often the first step is all that is required)

� Detailed Modeling: When the architecture, make-

up air strategies or egress routes are complex,

computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling

can be used to demonstrate system viability and

may prove successful performance at reduced

exhaust rates. This step may ultimately be a

requirement of the authority having jurisdiction.

Reducing Cost and Risk with Effective Design

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PROjECt PROfilE

Atrium Smoke Management

Sample Project Listing

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond VA Conceptual design and CFD modeling.

Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), NYC Design and detailed modeling of smoke management system.

Penn State Hershey Medical Centre, Hershey, PA Conceptual design.

LA MTA Memorial Park Station, Los Angeles Assessment of smoke impact on station and surrounding

buildings including influence of sprinklers.

Manitoba Hydro HQ, Winnipeg, Canada Developed the concept for a smoke management

system in four atria and means to reduce costs.

Dubai International Airport, UAE Smoke management system concepts and

CFD assessment of terminal spaces.

Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, PA Conceptual design of atrium and transition

space smoke management system.

Sahlia Tower, Bahrain CFD assessment of smoke management

systems in this 20 plus storey atrium.

Lynnwood High School, Seattle WA Smoke management concepts for zero flow exhaust system.

MIT Brain and Cognitive Science Project Smoke management concepts for a three

stage atrium and CFD modeling.

MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences ComplexMA

The atrium space at the MIT BCSC is comprised

of two three-storey entrance foyers leading up

to the base of a five storey atrium. On the basis of

a strict code calculation, the smoke management

flow rate would have had to exceed 630,000 cfm

(300 m3/s). There were doubts that this would

provide satisfactory performance. The smoke

management system was instead configured to

treat the spaces as individual atria, provide local

smoke capture for some volumes, and ultimately

resulted in a smaller smoke management system

which at its maximum draws less than 260,000 cfm

(120 m3/s). This strategy was also well integrated

with the design architecture which provides

openness of the space during normal operations.

References: Sinclair & Du (2012), Atrium Smoke Management Natural Venting Challenges, Presented at the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, Air-Conditioning Engineers Winter Meeting, Chicago, Il.Phillips, Duncan & Sinclair, Ray (2005), Reducing Exhaust Quantities for Atrium Smoke Control, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Transactions, Vol. 111, Part 2.

CANADA i CHiNA i HONG KONG i iNDiA i SiNGAPORE i uK i uSA www.RwDi.COm

PROjECt PROfilE

Atrium Smoke Management

Automated People Mover Transit Station, Dulles International AirportVA

The proposed people mover at the Dulles

International Airport expansion terminals

included enclosed transit tubes, fine spray mist water

suppression systems and tall atria-style architecture.

RWDI developed, with the rest of the design team,

a system to manage smoke within two stations,

including controlling the influence of tunnel fires

and demonstrated performance of these systems to

the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) using CFD.

University of CaliforniaPasadena, CA

The Genentech Hall atrium at the UCSF, was under construction.

Strict adherence to the code indicated an exhaust flow rate

of 600,000 cfm (283 m3/s). A proposed exhaust flow rate of

100,000 cfm (47 m3/s) was shown to be viable and ultimately

approved by the AHJ. Special features in the atrium such as

a large vaulted ceiling, good visibility and rapid exiting were

exploited to reduce the exhaust airflow rate requirements.

Photo

by:

Ray

Sin

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