Fire and egress modeling justified excess travel distance in a large manufacturing facility.
The prescriptiveness of the International Building Code restricted a maximum travel distance of 450 feet in this large and complex manufacturing facility. Due to operational concerns, travel distances in excess of 450 feet were desired to be justified.
Performance Based Fire Protection Engineering used fire and egress modeling to justify that extended travel distances in a global vehicle manufacturer’s facility did not present a lower level of safety or subject occupants in certain areas of the factory to conditions that may hinder their ability to self-evacuate.
This approach saved the client hundreds of thousands of dollars in construction cost of possibly rated enclosures, and allowed them to have uninhibited manufacturing flows for their production lines.
Chapter 10, Means of Egress, International Building Code
Section 1017, Exit Travel Distance, International Building Code
NFPA 92, Standard for Smoke Control Systems
