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Evacuation of endangered occupants of buildings may be necessary in a variety of intra-building and larger-scale emergencies. The effectiveness of building facilities and management procedures needed for evacuation has not been well understood until recently. To predict emergency performance more accurately and to assist building designers, managers, and safety authorities, research has begun on the movement of people in buildings and their behavior in emergencies. In addition, examples are given of key findings and predictive models developed in Canadian studies of evacuation of tall buildings and large public assembly buildings. This paper suggests necessary areas of research and the need for change in a range of disaster mitigation measures, including building design.

Pressurization by injecting outdoor air into a stairshaft is one means of maintaining tenable conditions in it during a fire emergency. Studies were made on various factors that govern performance of stairshaft-pressurization systems. Proposed here is a design for one such system. The performance of this system under various fire conditions was investigated using a computer model of the building.

Milpillas, ( site n°95 ), Santa Gertrudis, Municipio de Zacapu, Michoacán. Coin Nord-Est de la Yácata de la Escalera.

Milpillas, ( site n°95 ), Santa Gertrudis, Municipio de Zacapu, Michoacán. Escalier plus mur de contention de terrasses

Malpais Prieto, ejido Lázaro Cárdenas, Municipio de Villa Jimenez, Michoácan. Escalier

Little information exists on the pressure drop characteristics of stairshafts in tall buildings. Full- scale tests were conducted, therefore, to develop data on the airflow resistance required for designing a smoke control system for stairshafts by the pressurization technique. Data were obtained for open and closed tread stairshafts, with and without people inside them. The study revealed that the flow resistance inside the stairshaft with people can be double that without people. Also, a simple physical model to simulate the effect of people on the flow resistance was developed. This paper describes the analytical model, the experimental study, and the data obtained on the airflow resistance for the various stair configurations., Presented at the ASHRAE Winter Meeting, Dallas, TX, USA, Jan 31-Feb 3, 1988

The hazard to life safety from fire in high-rise buildings has been widely publicized. In Canada, several aspects of the problem have been studied and results applied to building design, operation, and regulations. One aspect, that of human behavior in fire emergencies, is under study at the Division of Building Research where detailed observations of 40 evacuation exercises in high-rise office buildings have been made. Observation techniques have been developed and the usefulness of questionnaires has been tested. Preliminary information describes the nature of evacuation movement on exit stairways, behavior in fire emergencies, and the use of exit stairways in the normal building occupancy. Some results suggest the need for specific changes in building code requirements and other design and operational considerations.

This paper presents the results of tests conducted on the pressurized stair shafts of two buildings to asses the effectiveness of this method in maintaining stair shafts tenable in the event of fire. The effect of having some stair doors open was checked as well as the differences that occur when air is injected at the top or bottom of the shaft. The paper recommends injection of air at several levels to assure uniform shaft pressurization and substantial flow of air for dilution throughout the stair shaft. The data on the airtightness of stair-shaft walls and doors and on the resistance to flow within the stair shaft are also reported., Presented at the 1974 ASHRAE Annual Meeting, Montreal, Que., Canada, June 23-27, 1974

Le Supplément no 7 du Code national du bâtiment au Canada contient certaines normes ayant pour but de rendre les bâtiments accessibles aux infirmes et d'y faciliter leurs déplacements; il y a au Canada environ un demi-million de personnes impotentes.

Supplement No. 7 to the National Building Code of Canada presents design requirements for rendering buildings convenient for use by handicapped citizens, of whom there are at least half a million now in Canada.