Share the experience Fire protection in universities Detection, alarming, evacuation, extinguishing siemens.
Content Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................3 1.1 Executive summary ................................................................................................................................................4 1.2 Scope ......................................................................................................................................................
Introduction Education covers an extremely wide range: not only with regard to the age of the pupils/students (from children as young as 4 to young adults in their mid twenties) but also to the variety of institutions (from nursery to university), types of buildings (teaching, administration, dormitory), and specialized rooms (from classrooms to high-tech laboratories).
1.1 Executive summary This document provides an overview on the challenges that need to be met in managing safety and security systems in the higher education sector while providing the best possible fire protection in the associated premises. As mentioned in the introduction, the main focus is on the complexity and diversity of those challenges faced in universities and this is reflected in many of the solutions highlighted in the document.
As universities continue to expand, it is important that the interconnecting network can also be extended in a straightforward manner, without encountering any performance-related issues. A major role in providing optimal site-wide fire protection is played by the ability to integrate the numerous panels, installed in buildings throughout a university campus, into a homogeneous EN54-conform network.
2 Fire Safety The focus of this document is on minimizing one of the greatest single threats to educational facilities – FIRE. Fire safety is a wide-ranging topic covering all aspects of fire prevention, life safety and fire damage mitigation. Case 3: University of Galatasaray, Turkey In 2013 a valuable library in one of the university’s historical buildings was completely destroyed as fire raged through the upper floors causing the roof to collapse.
2.2 Regulations The primary concern of the fire authorities is the safe evacuation of the building occupants and the provision of adequate fire-fighting equipment. In general, national and international fire regulations are primarily concerned with life safety and less concerned with protecting assets. Fulfilling these life-safety regulations and the associated building codes is, of course, mandatory.
Country Code of practice Description UNE 23007-2 Sistemas de detección y de alarma de incendios. Parte 2: Equipos de control e indicación. FI ST-ohjeisto 1: 2009 Paloilmoittimen suunnittelu, asennus, huolto ja kunnossapito 2009 (A new version will be published in 2017) FR NF S61-931:2014 Systèmes de sécurité incendie (S.S.I) – Dispositions générales NF S61-932:2015 Systèmes de sécurité incendie (S.S.
2.3 Fire safety management Good fire safety management is essential to ensure that: The probability of a fire occurring is very low If a fire should occur, then it should be: Detected early Extinguished quickly Restricted to a small area of the building If, in spite of all efforts to restrict the spread of the fire, it should get out of control, then all persons inside the building must be evacuated safely and quickly. 2.3.
Consequently particular attention should be paid to people who may be especially at risk such as: Although passive protection measures are not the primary focus of this document, they are extremely important. The majority of passive protection measures are related to the building structure, construction methods and materials used.
Detection measures The main tasks of an automatic fire protection system are to detect (an incipient stage) fire, sound an acoustic alarm, notify the fire service and activate the preprogrammed control functions.
2.5 Organization and Management Without good organization and management even the best structural and technical infrastructure cannot provide the quality of life safety and asset protection that is required. 2.5.1 Good housekeeping [8] Good housekeeping can make a significant contribution towards reducing the chances of a fire starting, for example by monitoring the accumulation of combustible materials. Waste material should always be kept in suitable containers prior to removal from the premises.
2.5.5 Disaster recovery plan The first priority is obviously to prevent fire occurring and suppress any potential fire in the incipient stage of its development. However, all colleges and universities should have a disaster recovery plan. As soon as the initial trauma of dealing with the fire is over and the extent of the damage can be assessed, priority must be given to getting back to the normal timetable.
3 Fire detection 3.1.3 Deceptive phenomena 3.1 Basic considerations The earlier a fire is detected, the more time there is for evacuation and extinguishing the fire, and the less damage can occur. Earliest possible detection is thus the key to minimizing damage and gaining precious intervention time. To ensure reliable detection at the earliest possible stage of a fire, it is important to be familiar with the different fire phenomena, fire propagation and possible deceptive phenomena. 3.1.
3.2 Fire detection in education facilities As discussed earlier many different types of room may be found in colleges and universities. These rooms not only differ in size and function but also in the range of deceptive phenomena that can be found there. Selecting the correct type of fire detector, with the appropriate settings for each application requires detailed knowledge of the products and their behavior under the various environmental conditions.
3.2.1 Student accommodation Purpose built (or converted) accommodation for university and college students frequently consists of a number of self-contained community units. Each of these units is made up of a small number of bedrooms with either ensuite or shared bathroom facilities, together with a large communal kitchen/lounge area.
3.2.2 High-tech laboratories The majority of universities have a number of specialized high-tech laboratories for very diverse fields of research. A fire in such a research facility could have a considerable impact on the research work itself and significant financial consequences for the university concerned. The size, type and infrastructure of such a laboratory strongly depend on the specialization of the particular university faculty.
3.2.3 Event venues University event venues are used for many diverse functions with varying numbers of participants. These may include seminars, graduation ceremonies, banquets, theatrical performances, exhibitions and even rock concerts. Since the fire risk and the environmental conditions in an event venue can vary considerably, depending on the function concerned (rock concert or seminar) the fire protection system must be able to adapt easily.
3.2.4 Libraries In the majority of universities each faculty has its own library, often in addition to the main university library. The extremely high fire load exhibited by libraries necessitates a careful appraisal of the best available fire protection concept. Today’s libraries not only house collections of reference books, they also offer facilities for on-line research. Numerous computers, together with an appropriate IT-infrastructure provide access to international databases etc.
3.2.5 Archives Universities may have a number of archives containing important documents, manuscripts and valuable historical books etc. These are risk areas that in certain cases may justify a high-tech protection solution, particularly with regard to the danger of fire. The high concentration of flammable and valuable objects implies that any incipient fire must be detected as early as possible and effectively extinguished, without the extinguishing agent used causing any further damage to those objects.
3.2.6 Lecture theaters Lecture theaters have become an indispensable feature of university life. The size of these may vary widely, with some larger facilities offering a seating capacity of over 300. In many cases a number of lecture theaters may be concentrated in a teaching block, with a common concourse area. Many lecture theaters have tiered seating, with an electrical infrastructure and air-distribution systems concealed in the underfloor void.
3.2.7 Kitchens Large cooking vessels, frying pans and deep fryers (which are commonly found in university refectories or canteens) present a very serious fire hazard. This is mainly due to the strong possibility of fire breaking out due to overheating and to the local high fire load. Multi-sensor fire detectors with a smoke/heat combination and sophisticated signal processing are recommended for monitoring these areas.
3.2.8 IT and electrical plant rooms IT and electrical plant rooms, in which power supply equipment, control systems, security systems and computer servers are accommodated, are risk areas that need to be especially well protected. Aspirating smoke detection systems (ASD) are able to detect extremely low smoke concentrations which may be caused, for example, by a malfunction of an individual electronic component.
4 Alarming, smoke control and evacuation 4.1 Introduction Once a fire has been detected by an automatic detector, by sprinkler flow monitoring or by a person activating a manual call point, the fire detection system will generate the appropriate pre-programmed control and alarm signals. A major factor that can affect the success of building evacuation is that many people do not take the sounding of a fire alarm sufficiently seriously or do not understand the meaning of the acoustic signal.
4.2.4 Alerting the municipal fire service The municipal fire department may be alerted in one of two ways: Automatically via the fire detection system by remote transmission Manually by telephone There are a number of advantages of notifying the fire service automatically: The building is protected even when unoccupied (night-time, weekend etc.
4.3 Smoke control In education facilities smoke control should form an integral part of the fire protection design process. Customized smoke control systems should be designed to restrict the spread of fire and smoke, and conduct the heat and smoke through the installed ducting and smoke vents into the external atmosphere (generally through the roof of the building).
Every fire door is therefore required to act as a barrier to the passage of smoke and/or fire to varying degrees depending on its location in a building and the fire hazards associated with that building. A fire door that is required to restrict the passage of a well-developed fire must be fitted with intumescent seals. These seals remain dormant under normal conditions but expand in the heat of a fire to close the gap between the door and its frame.
theaters can be evacuated one at a time and not all simultaneously. Regular staff training is required to ensure that such a system will work correctly and efficiently under emergency conditions. Phased evacuation (staged alarm) In more complex education facilities a phased evacuation may be considered appropriate. This system offers the following advantages: Reduced clogging (or blocking) of the escape routes and especially of staircases.
4.4.6 Escape route design considerations Travel distance The travel distance (or exit distance) is measured from the farthest point in a room to the door leading to a protected stairway or to the final exit of the building. The minimum recommended travel distances for applications with a single escape route and for those with multiple escape routes are defined in country-specific guidelines.
5 Extinguishing 5.3 Extinguishing systems 5.1 Introduction The most appropriate automated extinguishing systems for education facilities depend to a large extent on the application. Although preventing the outbreak of fire is the highest priority, the possibility of a fire occurring will always remain present. An automatic fire detection system, as discussed in Section 3 must also be supplemented by an effective fire extinguishing infrastructure.
Water mist systems An emerging fire-sprinkler technology which shows great promise particularly for sensitive applications is the use of water mist. A fine water vapor is generated by delivering water to the specially designed sprinkler heads at very high pressures. This maximizes the cooling effect of the water, enabling fires to be extinguished with minimal amounts of water. Experimental tests have shown that many room fires can be controlled with a very small amount of water.
Extinguisher Type Typical building area Water Craft rooms Workshops Assembly hall stages Along escape routes Foam Boiler room Foam or ABC Powder Laboratories Home economics rooms Kitchens CO2 Electrical switch rooms Rooms with much electronic equipment (e.g. IT rooms, stage lighting control areas) Fire extinguisher applications 5.4.2 Fire hose reels Fire hose reels are often overlooked or discarded as a possible option in favor of portable fire extinguishers.
with a fine water mist. The nitrogen effectively reduces the oxygen content of the room atmosphere, while the water mist provides additional cooling and prevents reignition, without causing damage to the stored objects. IT and electrical plant rooms A gas extinguishing system can provide efficient fire protection for electrical and electronic installations.
6 System integration and management 6.
Assisted treatment If a fire alarm is triggered in Building X, then it is extremely helpful to know exactly where the alarm was triggered and whether it was an automatic detector or a manual call point. Knowing the local danger potential (flammable liquids, chemicals, etc), whether large numbers of people may be present in the building and the most appropriate access route for emergency services etc. would clearly help to organize the response.
These measures may include, for example, enclosure and other physical protection of system components, separating networks, user training, multi-level defensive measures, etc. By the implementation of such a security solution, the product-specific guidelines for that particular application, together with the local IT’s specifications, must be strictly adhered to. EN54 Approval An essential part of any safety and security concept is a fully monitored and approved fire protection system.
7 Appendix: Schools 7.1 Introduction pupils in primary schools are well supervised at all times, emergency evacuation would also be unlikely to present significant problems. Basic security is provided in a similar manner to kindergartens. Children have already been attending various levels of schools before they enter into the higher echelons of universities.
A large number of fires are caused by “playing with fire”, which accounts for a high proportion of home fires, however it is also responsible for numerous school fires. To address this issue a number of countries including Sweden have launched government funded education programs aimed at making clear to children what the consequences of their actions might be.
8 References [1] Building Bulleting 100: Design for fire safety in schools Published by RIBA Enterprises (NBS is part of RIBA Enterprises Ltd), 15 Bonhill Street, London EC2P 2EA, on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families, September 2007 [2] BS 9999:2008 [3] Approved Document B (Volume 2 – Buildings other than dwelling houses) Published by NBS (part of RIBA Enterprises Ltd) [4] Fire safety risk assessment in educational premises Department for Communities and Local Government Pub
9 Share the experience With our dedicated program for consulting engineers, you can benefit from our extensive application know-how and complete portfolio. With Siemens, you can offer your customers comprehensive fire safety for any application and environmental condition. Your customers will appreciate this as it enables them to reliably protect people, assets and business processes from fire.
When building technology creates perfect places – that’s Ingenuity for life. Never too cold. Never too warm. Always safe. Always secure. With our knowledge and technology, our products, our solutions and our services, we turn places into perfect places. We create perfect places for their users’ needs – for every stage of life. #CreatingPerfectPlaces www.siemens.com/perfect-places Article no. BT_0088_EN (Status 12/2016) Subject to changes and errors.
