Hundreds of people die in fires every year, and many more suffer serious injuries.
If buildings were designed with fire safety in mind, these casualties could be avoided.
Firefighters do their best to protect people, but when a fire breaks out, it is the building that is their first line of defense, with the building’s design and construction responsible for the safety of those inside.
Fire Safety Design in Architecture is a term used for architecture that is fire-safe or resistant to fire.
An architect must consider fire safety design when there is a high risk of fire or when the building is located in an area prone to fire.
Fire-resistant materials can be used to minimize damage. Fire-safe architecture can be achieved with fire-resistant building materials, passive fire-protection systems, and active fire protection systems like aerosol fire suppression systems.
Fire Is The Most Common Cause Of Death
It is a sad fact, but fires happen more often than any other emergency event does in buildings; they have caused more deaths than any other cause, too.
There are about three times as many deaths by fire per year than there are traffic fatalities, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).
These are the facts that give every building owner and architect reason to worry about fire safety.
Fire safety design engineers have their work cut out for them, then.
These professionals study all kinds of different factors that can affect how fires spread and maximize the effectiveness of fire safety designs in general.
How good building design affects fire safety
You may think that building a fireproof building is all about suitable materials and construction techniques, but there are a lot of other factors that affect fire safety.
Chief among them is the building’s design, which is affected by everything from the building’s shape to the layout of the rooms inside.
For example, rectangular buildings are more accessible to navigate during a fire than round ones.
In the past, fire departments have had to coordinate with architects and building owners to find the best ways to protect against fire.
More recently, however, fire departments have begun to take an active role in fire safety design, making sure buildings are built with fire safety in mind.
Fire safety, of course, is a vital concern not only for fire departments but anyone who owns the property.
Considerations in fire safety design
There are three main concerns when it comes to fires in buildings:
- Detection
- Suppression
- Control
Detection
Detection is chiefly about knowing that a fire is happening. Fire safety design professionals put much effort into developing sensors and smoke detectors that can quickly alert building owners and occupants that a fire has started.
This detection helps save lives in fires; people are often killed in fires because they do not have enough time to get out of the space.
Quick information about the fire helps evacuation occur faster, making it less likely that people will be injured or killed by the fire.
Fire detection has been getting better and better over the years; smoke detectors can detect fires in a building even before they start to burn.
These detectors use heat and infrared technology to detect fires no matter when they break out or burning.
The early detection capabilities of these fire sensors are critical because it gives building owners and occupants more time to get out of a space, if necessary before the fire spreads.
Suppression
After a fire has started, the next goal is suppression.
This is where fire safety design professionals come into play again; these technicians help buildings have fewer fires by designing and implementing means to stop or at least minimize how much damage fires cause during a blaze.
There are many different types of suppression methods that can be used; for example, sprinklers, which give off water when a fire is breaking out, and firefighters trained to attack a fire from the outside.
Control
Controlling a fire once it has started is the next priority after sensing and suppressing any flames.
Fire safety design professionals work on designing fire exits that will allow people to escape if they need to before their space becomes fully engulfed in flames.
Firefighters also use fire exits to get into a building immediately when called upon in an emergency.
Additionally, fire safety design professionals are also responsible for understanding the types of materials that a building is made of so that the fire spreads as slowly as possible.
It is important to note that fire safety design professionals focus not only on hardware and software but also on their people.
The people working in this field usually work for local or national organizations; their training focuses on various fields such as architecture and other related areas.
Their job is to give advice and recommendations based on their knowledge and experience with fire safety designs.
Several organizations provide quality training for fire safety engineers and designers.
The National Fire Protection Association is one such organization that helps train future professionals and provides resources that can help the public understand how to react better in a fire emergency.
This means that anyone looking to consult a fire engineering company should be guaranteed specialists with extensive knowledge in this area.
There are many different guidelines and regulations in place for fire safety as a whole.
These regulations help make sure that highly trained individuals who know how to design a building to prevent fires properly are doing so and ensure that all structures have the proper means of detecting and fighting fires when they do happen.
Here are just a few regulations and guidelines that can help make the fire safety design process easier:
The Uniform Building Code (UBC)
This is a code that all building owners must adhere to when designing and planning their buildings.
The UBC has many different sections, one of which is fire safety. It includes sections on how to configure a building, so fires are contained and spread as little as possible.
It also outlines the different ways that fires can be detected and extinguished within a space.
The document also includes many suggestions, such as making sure flammable materials are not stored in common areas or hallways where there is easy access for firefighting crews.
Codes such as the UBC are of enormous importance to fire safety design professionals because they ensure that all building owners and architects recognize the importance of a fire-resistant space.
The International Building Code
This document is used across the United States and other countries to help ensure that buildings are installed correctly according to their construction material.
This code also provides building owners with guidelines for making sure people can escape in the event of a fire, such as specific ways to assemble a stairwell in order for people to be able to escape easily.
These guidelines highlight safety concerns such as access routes, sprinkler systems, and more.
Many different states all over the country have their own guidelines for how buildings should be designed.
These guidelines are designed to aid building owners and local governments in understanding what should be a fire safety design professional’s primary focus.
These guidelines also include details on how to make sure that buildings are built as fire-resistant as possible.
Summary
Fire Safety Design in Architecture is a term used for architecture that is fire-safe or resistant to fire.
An architect must consider fire safety design when there is a high risk of fire or when the building is located in an area prone to fire.
Fire-resistant materials can be used to minimize damage. Fire-safe architecture can be achieved with fire-resistant building materials, passive fire-protection systems, and active fire protection systems.