Sustainable Building Design For Fire And Safety Protection

Relevance and Importance

Sustainable building design for fire and safety protection

In the era of sustainable building design which emphasis on fire safety, innovative building design integrates “green” building design with focus on important client requirements for professional engineering organizations. It is vital to employ sustainable building design for effective fire safety; sustainable draws its inspirations in resolving the challenges between architectural vision and code expectations for fire safety. However, it is difficult to design buildings which can harness less energy and environmental friendly due to the reason that outcome of building features which address the fire safety can be negative, positive or even neutral for instance, building feature which consists of distributed cooling as well as heating can be considered as a neutral feature in addressing fire safety (Gales, Parker, Cree and Green, 2016). By employing natural ventilation integrated with atria and double skin facades which enables for relatively unimpeded smoke to move out of the building in the event of a fire. Therefore it is mandatory for fire engineering design as well as fire safety mitigation measures including mechanical extract systems, should be developed effectively. In order to understand the major implications of sustainability for fire safety, sustainable building design should be understood clearly, according to National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the Fire Protection Research Foundation presented Fire Safety Design and Sustainable Buildings: Challenges and Opportunities in Chicago (Banani, Vahdati, Shahrestani and Clements-Croome, 2016). It was developed by prominent architects, engineers, and members of the sustainability community and research institutions on addressing challenges as well as opportunities of combining sustainable design and fire safety.

Fire safety and sustainability buildings have common goals, but may seem to conflict with each other. Therefore wider awareness of the challenges as well as dialogue between the fire safety and sustainability can develop buildings which are sustainable and safer. Smokes from fires are bad for human health and environment, for instance fire foam, carbon dioxide and sulphur oxides are contaminants from fire-fighting activities which leads to risk of land contamination because of disposing damaged materials or even heavy metals caused by fire.

The most important shared goal of fire safety and sustainable buildings is that fire can be controlled and its aftermath can be recovered quickly.

In the 21st century, recent success in sustainable building industry has gained major importance and the important goals of sustainable building design are:

Employing non-renewable resources efficiently
Safeguarding human health residing in building as well as lessening waste that negatively impacts the environment.

In order to provide sustainability, Green star Rating Tool which is a certification system evaluates the sustainability level in buildings (Chow, 2015). The evaluation process is based certain criteria such as energy, water, and materials. However, this widely employed tool does not provide parameters needed to implement fire safety but experts in fire protection industry have highlighted the greater fire safety risks, for instance atria allows more natural light, but can increases fire hazards because of the smoke which can spread everywhere in a faster way. In-order to make energy efficient buildings, particular type of insulation are employed for aggrandizing the structural support for thin steel walls but this certain type of insulation can easily melt due to the high heat caused by fires which weakens the structural integrity of the building (Ching and Winkel, 2018). If the structural integrity is weak, it can result in collapse of the sustainable building and cause negative impacts on the environment. Therefore, few sustainable building features can lead to fire hazards, for instance fire-extinguishing elements such as halogen gases can be dangerous to the ozone layer (Frischknecht, Wyss, Knöpfel, and Stolz, 2015). Fire safety experts encourage effective collaboration between sustainable building and fire safety industry when constructing a building, instead of including regulations and requirements to enforce strict policies (Hidalgo, Welch, and Torero, 2015). It is important to collaborate early in the building design process so that it will be easier to sort out disagreements since many sustainable building experts mention that t is much easier to change a building in its starting phase and create effective solutions.

Identification

The (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) LEED certification promoted by the U.S. Green Building Council is adapted by the United States in order to promote green certification to the buildings that are designed and constructed with the goal of promoting sustainability and enhancing the market value (Gourlis, and Kovacic, 2017). The “green” building codes are proclaimed by the International Code Council and also by several other groups. The changes done in the designs of the building should promote enhancement in the person’s safety and also protect the assets from the property damage but still the performance of the buildings are greatly affected to the fire and safety challenges that causes unanticipated consequences. Hence it is necessary to carry out the assessment of fire performances on the sustainable building with the primary challenges affecting the performance of the building and also the safety considerations with the escape consequences. Moreover, it is also necessary to consider the fire along with the other hazard risk factors that falls under the part of the performance metrics. The objectives of this work are as follows:

Provide necessary information regarding the sustainability of a building with the necessary safety hazards
Best practices adapted for the hazard risk alleviation

A sustainable building is the design philosophy with the physical end product to enhance the buildings performance by improving the resource efficiency in the complete lifecycle of a building (from construction, operation till demolition). The measure of these performances could be obtained by international environmental performance-rating systems for buildings. The utilization of materials is one key viewpoint that must be viewed as while developing supportable structures (Definition of Sustainability 2010). There is a huge discussion about which materials will make minimal measure of harm nature over the long haul (Ghaffarianhoseini et al. 2016). The recognized rating systems include LEED adapted by US, Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) adapted in UK and Green Star adapted in Australia. The goal of all these recognized rating system is similar; to maintain a sustainable environment in areas prone to waste, water, pollution and energy (Environmental Protection Agency 2010). If there is a maximum building score is then the design is said to be more sustainable. Moreover, a sustainable building is said to have a positive social impact on the local environment. More than a conventional designed building, a sustainable building contains longer lifespan, promotes social amenity, considers societal needs, maintains heritage and promotes proofing to the building at the future.

Fire has been characterized into five unique classes dependent on its source and how it tends to be contained inside a structure (Sabnis, 2015) (Schulte et al. 2016). These classes include:

Control Measures

Class A: This fire includes normal ignitable materials, for example, paper, wood and material fiber. This class of fire can be extinguished by cooling, covering or wetting of the structure. Likewise, dousing specialists can be utilized to annihilate the fire.

Class B: These are fires which include combustible fluids, for example, fuel, thinners, oil based paints and oils. To kill this kind of fire, Extinguishers, for example, carbon dioxide, dry concoction and hydrogenated specialist types can be utilized.

Class C: This sort of flames includes the consuming of electrical gear, where a non-leading vaporous clean specialist or covering operator is expected to put off the fire.

Class D: These are fires which occur because of the ignition of metals, for example, magnesium, sodium, potassium, and aluminum. Uncommon dry powder dousing operators are required for this class of fire to be annihilated.

The hazards caused due to the fire are broadly classified from the prescriptive of the codes and standards that are initiated in a very specific manner along with the installation of the fire protection system suitable for the particular situation. These systems are initially designed and tested before they are bought under the application performance. There are several benefits by the Prescriptive codes and standards since they are very easy for the enforcement and application. Additionally, the building that are constructed with the Prescriptive codes and standards tends to manage well during the fire situation and also have a good history of performance (Spinardi, Bisby and Torero, 2017). But they does not guarantee for standard level of safety with the cost privilege. For instance, store that are bought under the classification of mercantile occupancies, with one side of the store selling the greeting cards and the other part with the liquor bottles tends to adapt the same protection guidance but the fire hazard happening at both the shops could be different (Newell, 2008).

From the above situation, it is known that the whole building should be necessarily considered for implementing the fire safety that is promoted by the “Performance-based design” tool (Wong and Zhou, 2015). “Performance-based design” is an engineering approach to fire protection design that depends on the following factors:

Based on the essential fire safety objectives and goals
The fire scenario consideration and analysis
Based on the performance criteria, engineering tools and methodologies, the quantitative measurements are generated with the sufficient fire safety objectives and goals.

Fire safety objectives of a building could be obtained by considering the performance-based design. Environment protection, property protection, life safety and mission continuity are all included in these objectives. Occupational Safety and Health Act, U.S. Department of Labor in the year 1970 states that “standards developed under the act are enforced to promote safety to the working men and women; by providing sufficient information, research, training and education regarding the occupational safety and health; to promote a healthy working situation and condition for the people living in the state”. Through this sufficient information could be obtained by the firefighters to interact the building at the case of any emergency situations. The combined efforts made by the code officials, designers and related stakeholders promote a safe workplace for the fire-fighters.

Research Questions

The building codes set a minimum requirement for the fire safe structures to be designed and constructed. This works in setting up an optimum safety and economic feasibility thereby promoting a safe environment for the living (Hossaini, Reza, Akhtar, Sadiq, and Hewage, 2015). Building codes are generally categorized as two types:

Specification or prescriptive codes- This explains in detail regarding the building components, assembling the structure as well as the size and the shape of the components used under construction to promote a safe environment.

Performance codes- Certain criteria are set for the objectives to be reached; these criteria should be generally reached while the builders try to choose the components and materials for building the construction.

Building codes plays a vital role in promoting safety to the structure and also in the earthquake condition (Tidwell and Murphy, 2010). Recently, building codes includes minimum requirements as structural stability, ventilation, built-in safety equipment, fire resistance, sanitation, lightning and means of egress. Additionally, building codes also involves in establishing the area and the height criteria for the building in order to prevent and protect the structure from fire based on the intended usage (Miller, 2015). These requirements could vary based on the types of occupancy from one tenancy to the other (Holstov, Bridgens and Farmer, 2015). Moreover the codes also includes 1) provisions for automatic fire suppression system 2) necessity for avoiding the flame spread with the interior design 3) enclosure of vertical openings such as pipe chases, stair shafts and elevator shafts and finally 4) promoting an exit pathway during the fire hazard. Exit requirements are usually based on the NFPA 10®1, Life Safety Code®

Table 1: Fire incident occurrence at certain tenancies

Fire incident	Representation
Foam insulation, Woods Hole, MA, February 2011	According to the investigation carried out by Massachusetts Division of Fire Safety (DFS), almost $5 million home on the exclusive Penzance Point peninsula in Woods Hole had been destroyed by a fire accident caused due to the excessive heat production due to the installation of polyurethane foam spray. This was due to the mixture of two chemical used for making the spray foam. DFS recommends to create an awareness to the building officials within the community regarding the potential fire hazard with the instructions to be followed accurately
High-Rise Façade Fire, Dubai, April 2012	A 43-storey building of the residential Al Tayer Tower near Al Nahda Park in Sharjah, Dubai caught fire on April 28, 2012. This caused 125 families homeless and the confirmation for the cause of the fire was not determined.
Modern building material of the building to cause fire, Atlantic City, September 2007	Water Club Tower at the Borgata Casino hotel caused fire with the huge smoke and the aluminum cladding on the exterior siding caused large piece of them flying off the face in the air. The fire soon spreaded to 38 stories on the face of the building. The flames were extremely massive and it also blocked the main road for the emergency vehicles to approach.
Fire Ravages Renowned Building in Beijing, Feburary 2009	34-story building that contains a hotel with the cultural center, which is the part of China Central Television’s new headquarters caught fire due to the illegal fireworks that made a fierce blaze.
The Monte Carlo Exterior Façade Fire (2008)	At Las Vegas, Monte Carlo a 3000 room resort caught fire with the smoke and flames caused as an exterior fire in the resort on January 28, 2008. The blaze took a day to be put off. It also left some firefighters with injury while they try to put off the blaze

According to the problem statement of this work, development of sustainable building and their construction codes promotes the usage of green systems and materials, but they all does not satisfy the fire requirements and safety concerns, therefore “a systematic method needs to be developed that considers the fire hazard and safety factors with the part of their implementation design in the certification process” (Bernardi, Carlucci, Cornaro and Bohne, 2017). Hence it is important to understand the elements and materials required for the construction of green building and also the risk and the fire hazards that may pose at certain situation.

Structural Systems and Materials	Interior finishing and Systems	Alternative Energy Consideration
Lumber (Light-weight)	FRP walls	Photovoltaic roof panels
Concrete (Light-weight)	Bamboo/wood panel walls/ finishes	Photovoltaic oil-filled panels
Fiber Reinforced polymer (FRP)	FRP flooring	H₂ fuel cells
Bamboo	Glass walls	Wind turbines
Nano particles and materials	Bamboo/ Bio-polymer flooring	Water heater (Tankless)
Bio-polymer and plastic lumber	Bio-filtration walls	Wood pellet system
Exterior Systems and materials	Interior Spaces and Consideration	Site Consideration
Structural Integrated panel (SIP)	Maximum Insulating values	Pavers usage
Rainwater catchment area (PVC)	Solar tubes	Orientation of the buildings
Low reflective coating	Horizontal and vertical open spaces	Permeable Concrete and asphalt pavement
Foam insulation applied by Spray system	Vegetation	Shading made by vegetation
FRP and Bio-polymers	Highly enclosed spaces	Water treatment (Locally)
Vegetative roof system	Insulated acoustically	Decreased water supply
Double-skin cavity walls		H₂infrastructure
Rigid Foam insulation

A list of fire hazard and their concern with the attributes used for the green building construction is necessarily considered (Roberts, Webber and Ezekoye, 2015). This list had been provided by the building and fire codes with the combination of fire risk and life safety performance. The reflection of this given list holds the safety of the emergency responder and the occupants and issues due to the performance of the building. This list of issues does not hold cover of the building contents protection, market issues or business endurance, which should also be necessarily considered (Oti et al. 2016).

Certain risk and their performance attributes includes
Creates Potential ignition risk
Creates Hazard risk
Promotes ignition
Burns with the single ignition of flames
Spreadable fire growth
Impact heat/smoke venting
Requires evacuation of the occupants
Smoke/flame spread concern
Shorter duration for the failure to occur
May require water and fire-fighter availability
May create containment
May require fire apparatus access
Burning characteristics affected by the material
Heat Release rate (HRR) increase with the fuel contribution

Shared Goals and Conflicts

These are necessarily promoted by the performance based design, through which the safety of the building with the necessary hazard parameters by the above list could be determined (Maluk, Woodrow and Torero, 2017). These are broken down as quantitative measures through engineering consultation and analysis by the building stakeholders or owners and the officials of the code enforcement law (Yang, 2015). Significant fire situation should be analyzed with the class types and based on that the fire suppression system is promoted (Kreiner, Passer and Wallbaum, 2015). After the development of fire protection strategies, it is necessary to check whether the safety goals are attained by every fire affected places based on the models promoted by the engineering tools.

Electrical hazard:

These hazards could occur due to the hard wired circuits and electrical fitting and machines. This could cause fire due to the heat produced by the electrical fittings with the over-time running faulty electrical appliances and connections (NAP, 1996).

Control Mechanism:

The building should be necessarily or periodically investigated and annual maintenance of the machine is requirement and thereby determining the ageing of the machine with the record.

Mitigation measures:

The following are the measures taken to detect and deal with the electrical hazard:

All the electrical connection provided at the large building should not be left unmanned or unattended. Inspections should be done based on the law and sufficient installation with the appliances should be given based on the report provided by the building management. The Electricity at Work Regulations stipulates the necessary guidelines that must be followed in the routine checks for electrical installations in a commercial building. The routine checks include the following consideration (Taylor, 2006):

Regularly check for any term of breakage, overheating, loose fitting and missing electrical parts from the electrical connections and appliances
Maintain a proper insulation for the electrical equipments thereby promoting short circuit that is caused due to the dust or moisture impacts.
Door cavities should be secured with the sufficient labels explaining the terms and the switchgear should be readily accessible.

The connectivity board should have the proper component spacing among them. Moreover, according to the NFPA 70, National Electrical code the electrical motors should be checked once in a period of 6 months. Any deterioration detected by the electrical machines that promotes human injury should be fixed immediately and routine checking should be maintained. Plug multi-way adapters and RCB circuits breakers should be used when the machine is movable and are connected to the main supply (Thomas, 2007).

Fire loading hazards with the potential ignition points are considered to be conventional heaters, ignition of natural materials and high voltage lightning (Takano et al. 2015). If the building or the industralized environment is provided with the combustible materials then there is a chance of fire eruption. These materials acts as a fuel to the fire and when they are located near the fire proximity then there is a chance for the fire to spread at a faster rate over a long distance in a short span of time.

Fire Classes

It is necessary for the building manager to make a note of the conventional heaters located on the walls of the building that are left uncovered (SFPE 2006,2008). Moreover, all the dryers and the washing machine present at the basement of the building should be checked and cleaned annually and the power should be switched off, when it is not under operation.

The following measures are taken to avoid the risk of fire loading with the ignition point risk.

The light bulbs used in the building should be low wattage bulbs. Moreover, the refrigerators and the television set should have a proper voltage stabilizer by which the connection should be made (Sovacool et al. 2016). This could ensure that during the occurrence of high voltage, all the electronic set could be save by the voltage regulator thereby avoiding explosion and repair. Environmentally friendly LED bulbs are recommended to be used in the buildings.

The natural fibers present in the laundry area could promote risk of causing combustion, therefore it is necessarily provided with the cooling cycles. Moreover, labels that promote safety should also be placed in the laundry room.

Smoke Hazard:

Smoking materials that comes due to cooking and burning of materials and also cigarette smoke is considered as a fire risk in the buildings. In public buildings, smoking is considered to be highly prohibited according to the local regulations. However, in certain areas people tend to smoke in the suitable secretive area and their actions remain concealed. This should be necessarily avoided.

According to NFPA 703, Standard for Fire Retardant Impregnated Wood and Fire Retardant coatings For Building materials, the materials chosen for the building should not be affected due to the smoke and proper coating should also be promoted with the ventilation system. Moreover, no smoking should be carried out in the enclosed areas and “No Smoking” signs should be kept at the public buildings.

Smoke extraction system consists of smoke outlet with an inlet vent that promotes fresh air from the environment. This system could be manually or naturally operated based on the heat produces by the environment (Webb, Ambrose, Thomas, White, & Tucker, 2007). Manually operated system is promoted by a switching mechanism and automatically operated one contains a temperature sensor or smoke sensors. Based on the following requirement, the smoke extraction system should be implemented:

The system should be mechanically operated or made natural.
Sprinklers should be provided to the mechanically operated smoke extraction system
The system should promote ten air changes per hour at a minimum basis
The water from the sprinkler system should be resisted by the fire duct and the assembly should be done properly in the extraction system.

Smoke sensor will detect smoke in case of fire occurring on the building. The fire damper will open and the smoke is vented out with the extractor system thereby ensuring that there is no smoke present in the ductwork. It also prevents the smoke from entering other compartments with the fan provided at the roof of the plant room. The system mainly functions with the ductwork, which should be approved as a fire rated equipment with necessary stability and insulation, so that it will not be affected by fire. According to NFPA 92A, Recommended practice for Smoke control system, the penetration seals and the ductwork should be tested before it is bought under implementation. The approval should be made by the local authority of the fire department before operation.

When the fire is being detected at an early stage then great loss could be avoided, which is made possible by the fire detection and alarm system. Maintenance should be properly done for this suppression system and the approval should be done based on the NFPA® 70, National Electrical Code^®, and NFPA^® 72, National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code.

System Requirements:

The system is provided with the external power supply that initially works once the fire is detected thereby making the alarm system with the visual indicators to function. The control units and the visual indicators are bounded together into a single circuit thereby fitted together as a single system. Several functions are served by the suppression system that includes:

Elevators, dampers, HVAC, doors and several other equipments could also be bounded by this system with the annunciator assimilation

Promoted with the message and voice notification facility so that public could have a reach and all the happenings are recorded.

Indicators could be in the form of speakers, horns, flash lights and buzzers. These indicators are installed based on the height and width of the high rise buildings. Most probably, speakers and horns that function in high frequency could be used as an indicating device. Based on the type of the fire, the signaling devices could be installed. Alarm signal indicates the hazardous situation and it should promote the other equipment activation such as manual pull stations, smoke detectors, water flow switches and other fire extinguishers. Supervisory signal is the indication provided for the proper functioning of all system and Trouble signal is created when the system fails during the function.

One of the most commonly adapted fire extinguisher systems is the automatic sprinkler system. This system is provided with the sufficient water supply. The sensor detects the fire and significant water could be sprayed by the system in the fire occupied area.

The system consist of stop valve, Fire sprinkler head, alarm circuit/bell,, alarm valve, pressure and flow switch. Sprinkler system could be classified as dry pipe, tail end, wet pipe and domestic sprinkler system. Wet pipe automatic sprinkler system is the most commonly used type and when the fire tries to contact the head of the sprinkler system fitted with the sensor, water flows in the area making the other sprinkler system to work in that particular area. Water is supplied until the pressure drops or equals to the particular level. Sprinklers are a typical and compelling type of programmed fire concealment. Be that as it may, sprinkler frameworks must be tried, which can expend a lot of water. The insurance agency FM Global played out an examination looking at two indistinguishable rooms in a distribution center, one with sprinklers and one without. The two rooms were lighted likewise and perceptions were made. In the test, the non-sprinkled room discharged multiple times the measure of compound vitality as the sprinkled room. The non-sprinkled room utilized 4221 absolute liters while the sprinkled room utilized just 1938 all out liters to douse 10 the fire. Hence the examination proposes that the advantages of sprinklers are twofold: fire sprinklers help in the smothering of flames and increment manageability by decreasing the general impact of flames on the earth. Specifically, fine fog sprinkler frameworks are an earth well-disposed choice on the grounds that their little beads act like a gas, yet are not harmful like numerous halogen gases. Also, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) in the United States did an examination on 1000 flames and found that the possibility of death in a non-sprinkled constructing was around multiple times as incredible as that in a sprinkled fabricating.

According to the NFPA 285 test standards, minimum requirements with the guidelines, procedure and technical definitions are considered and this should be necessarily followed by the installers as well as by the manufacturers.

Test method is provided by the NFPA 285 Standard to determine the fire propagation characteristics of the exterior walls and panels. The standard mainly focuses on avoiding the fire to be spread by the exterior wall materials without incorporating it with the combustible materials and components (Leonardo Academy Inc. 2010). The least understandable aspect for the designers, architects and the building owners is the provisions supplied for the exterior walls to prevent the fire. It is said that many buildings in the US does not promotes any exterior fire provisions. Building energy efficiency should be ensured that is not affected at any cost due to the fire and life safety protection should also be promoted with the greater amount of insulation promoted in the highly combustible area and this should be included with the North America’s building stock to achieve better energy performance (Correia, Branco, Ferreira, Bai & Keller, 2010). Therefore, non-combustible based constructive materials could be used constructed with the façade that do not trigger NFPA testing.

Building codes always ensures that the newly constructed building should be energy efficient, safe and promotes public health. In Canada, jurisdiction over building codes is a provincial responsibility. Regulatory authority should follow five national model codes published by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) in both English and French and in certain cases Codes are bought under regional needs and then they are established as provincial codes.

Some of the National Model Codes in Canada includes the following:

National Building Code of Canada (NBC):

NBC guides the builders regarding the construction and design of the new building with the existing building renovation. The territorial and the provincial building codes of Canada is purely based on this code.

National Fire Code of Canada (NFC):

NFC addresses minimum requirements for the fire safety and this should be necessarily adapted by the apartments, buildings, structures and areas where hazardous materials are used in large amount. Moreover, it also provides fire prevention and protection to the ongoing facilities and buildings of Canada (Lie, 2010). For every five years, the NBC code is updated in Canada. Several other building codes include:

National Plumbing Code (NPC) – It covers the requirements and design of plumbing system used in the buildings

National Farm Building Code (NFBC) – It covers the requirements based on the farm lands

National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings (NECB) – This is the part of NBC part 9, where the design and construction of the building with the minimum energy requirements is adapted.

Promoting adequate means to escape:

Depending on the occupancy, significant escape routes should be made to get out of the buildings in case of a hazardous situation (Ramachandran and Charters, 2011). According to the National Building Code, the exit pathways should be constructed, maintained and operated in the buildings. Moreover, in case of emergency, stairwells, staircases and corridors should also be ensured, maintained and necessary ventilation should also be provided during obstacles. Additionally, open spaces in the construction also play a vital role in fire management. During November 26 2008, the terrorist attack in the Taj hotel of Mumbai, India, made a remarkable situation of which the atrium in the old wing of the hotel prevented the fire to spread to the other part of the building from the sixth floor, thereby avoiding heavy damage and loss.

Exit door Outlined with clear pathways:

People of the building should necessarily identify the exit pathway during the emergency situation. The exit signal should be photo-luminescent that could be possibly viewed during power failure and night time (Stevenson & Nichols, 2010). According to the NBC guidelines, the distance for the exit pathway and the person to travel should be strictly followed. When people are initiated to leave the building in phases, then terraces is said to be the refuge areas, which is difficult for the people to congregate in high-rise buildings.

Maintaining smoke detection and Suppression system:

Smoke and heat detectors are said to be a mandatory element according to the international building codes. Apart from installation, maintenance is also an important part to have a confirmation that the equipment works well during the fire hazard situation. Automatic water sprinkler system is essential equipment in every large building. According to NFPA, a US-based non-profit body, the use of automatic sprinkler system could reduce the damage caused by a fire up to 60%

Fire drills:

Regular fire drills could familiarize people with emergency evacuation methods at little cost. This is said to be a standard procedure followed in every public building with the help of the fire safety officer. The most important thing in the case of an emergency situation is to prevent panicking that makes the occupants stay away from fumes and flames.

Interiors should be promoted by flame-retardant materials:

Materials that are used for constructing the interior materials should be fire-resistant; if not then it could endanger lives. The combination of textiles, papers or woods could act as a fuel in case of fire. Fabrics have the capability to self-extinguish as they are flame-retardant. Several multinational companies invest in these fabrics and these fire-tested fabrics are generally promoted by the US furniture makers with the stringent fire regulations. Especially, doors should be made fire-resistant as they promote a pathway for the occupants to leave and this should be tested based on the time the door is said to be resistant with the situation.

The area accessible to firefighters:

In urban areas, grilled windows are found commonly and it finds a way for the firefighters to enter. Occupants in the residential building should vary of locking themselves into a confined environment in case of few exit pathways in the buildings.

Building plans should be kept handy:

In public areas, the plan of the building should be viewable to all the people entering into the building with the exit pathways clearly mentioned so that they don’t get trapped into the confined space.

Accessing safety by the local fire brigade:

Fire departments, for a nominal fee, will independently assess your building’s level of fire safety. In the old and unstable structure with the hazardous materials and inadequate escape route, it could be easily accessed and handled by the firefighters and professionals.

Natural Ventilation and Smoke Control:

If all the Natural Ventilation Sustainability objectives are met, then what type of conflict could arise and how could they be subdued?

For a sustainable design, ventilation provided naturally is the most important factor. Most of the ancient Iran buildings are constructed and designed with the wind catchers that promote fresh air to the basement as well as to the top of the structure. Internal courtyards are created in the ancient Rome buildings, which promotes vertical exhaust and cross-flow of the hot air and smoke. Due to the fire risk, modern buildings have reduced the use of natural ventilation promoting air movement (). The flow of natural air is highly reduced in the high-rise buildings with the rectangular structure composing of larger floor areas. This could be avoided by making double skin facades and operable windows, but it could rather increase the cost of construction and also promotes the risk for fire spread. A fire incident that took place in London was mainly spread due to the opened windows. Therefore, mechanical ventilation could be promoted rather than using the natural ventilation system.

Cross ventilation could be highly promoted with the use of Atria, but there is only minimum test data for atrium spaces indulged in the multiple floor fires. If significant protection is added then the hazard due to the fire could be greatly avoided. Double skin facades installed compartments could be promoted to circumvent any open vertical shafts for the smoke to pass through. Atrium spaces could be equipped with the smoke or draft curtains to prevent the travel of smoke to the entire construction. But, these types of system are extremely costly and they are not reliable and they hadn’t been carried out with the proper test situation.

Whether the requirements for a sustainable building requirement can be satisfied “Performance-Based” Fire Protection goals?

The main aim of the Performance-based design for a sustainable building is to lower the operational energy and then incorporate the impacts of renewable energy resources. This design methodology permits the engineers to promote solutions that are sufficient for the evacuation, alarms, suppression, resistance and smoke control in case of fire. These methodologies are restricted by the prescriptive codes while they are permitted by the PBD for sustainable design.

In the year 2008, LEED had been achieved by the California Academy of Sciences building that features photovoltaic (PV) cells with the green roof. A test had been conducted by the structural fire engineering analysis team in order to check whether the PV cells are supported by the unprotected steel canopy. Also, LEED accreditation had been achieved by the engineers as well as the designers through the Performance-based Design and thereby promoting aesthetically pleasing and recognizable safe building structure. Designers gain the maximum benefits by the PBD and it also leads to a few drawbacks. Certain authorities under the jurisdiction tend to disagree with the PBD design as it does not meet all the prescriptive codes. PBD also adds time constraints with the increase in the significant cost without any guarantee. PBD adapted for the smaller objects could increase the cost from the nominal rate. PBD could be greatly accepted if there are more participation and more education among the developers. Moreover, all the fire safety and Sustainable goals could be greatly achieved by the PBD.

Is it necessary to have “Sustainable” materials to make an impact on the fire load of the Buildings?

All the “pieces of stuff” comes from the component-based material that is created as a product and then placed within the systems, which is used among all the structures and the buildings. Material properties do not promote the scale of implications and it does not guarantee the whole system’s safety. Rather the material properties can be used to determine the performance of each product during the situation of smoke, fire, efficiency etc. It also addresses the structural and systematic levels of the building codes with the necessary certifications and inspections thereby ensuring the human health, sustainability and life safety. Moreover, the use of polymer-based material had been encouraged in the field of construction and these materials are purely based on the refining operations and crude oil. This could also give rise to unintended outcomes, especially fuel load. Rather than the neutral materials, the heat of combustion is significantly high for these polymer-based materials. The flashover time for the non-synthetic material is very high of about 14-20 minutes and synthetic material will be around 2 to 4 minutes. Then a question arises how can this material be considered as a safer one?

The amount of smoke produced is also great with the plasticizers that are known to be aromatic compounds. The high amount of smoke is also produced by polyvinyl chloride. A better understanding is promoted by the in-depth analysis of heat-release rate (HRR) and smoke production for each construction materials. Potential fire hazards are possible with the use of different wire materials in a plenum space. Profound implications could be made by the removal of flame retardants.

What are the impacts of the Green Building in the future?

The quality of the built environment is based on the development plans made by the BRE’s Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) in the year 1990. BREEAM is said to be known for the products related to both the commercial and the residential buildings. BREEAM holds up the fire safety management credits along with the building occupation. The compliance for the Building regulations followed in the UK is based on the European Standards (ENs), British Standards (BS) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards. BREEAM is purely based on the environment situation but sustainability is purely based on both the economic and social impact factors. BRE Global is now being developed with the new framework that includes all the sustainability of the buildings, which also includes national standards and codes. The new scheme should also consider the impact on fire safety and certain sustainability issues and drivers should be met significantly:

Maximum use of recycled material for construction purpose
Modular construction with a decreased amount of wastage should be promoted that lead to much innovative design
Air-tightness of the building should be maximized
Energy requirements could be met by enhancing the insulation thickness
New laminated glazing products could be used
A traditional building that is historically constructed should be separated and new materials should be determined.

Impacts of the fire in the environment should also be included by the new approach with the consideration of cost-benefit analysis. A survey says that use of sprinkler based system highly reduces the property damage with the reduction in the loss of lives and injuries. The assessment of fire performance of the entire system is necessary rather than considering just the materials. In the future, many stakeholders will have a hold with the green schemes that lead to the management and construction and management of buildings to get the maximum benefit from the fire protection measures. More robust data could also be promoted that could open scrutiny and peer review to better benefits, quantify the cost, social and environmental impacts of fire and risk of death and injury. New methodologies had also been adapted for making the benchmarking materials with the sustainable framework that leads to the betterment of both the economic and social benefit along with the environmental situations.

How LEED certification is involved in the “Sustainable” building construction?

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification system is managed by the U.S. Green Building Council, a non-profit organization that promotes building with environmental sustainability, sufficient place for construction and economically profitable. Healthcare facilities, existing facilities and new homes and construction are all included under the categories of LEED green building rating system. For every 3 years, the rating system is being updated and new facilities are also included with the existing systems. There are 5 categories under the LEED rating system:

An effective way for water usage
Considering the site before as well as after the construction (Sustainable sites)
The requirement for the operation of the facility with both the atmosphere and the energy
Amount of recyclable material with the other resources and also the waste produced is considered
Indoor environment qualities

There are 4 levels of achieving the level with the 100-point scale. The level of achievement includes certified, silver, gold, and platinum. Another new concept that should be considered before LEED is the integrated project delivery based on the healthcare that involves all the stakeholders as well as the contractors during the design discussion. Several innovative design and projects are developed and design while discussing the LEED certification based fire protection criteria considering environmental responsibility. This innovative design leads to the reduction of fuel consumption and also saved the cost for the complete setup. Many approaches for the sustainable building apart from the materials and products include water preservation during the test, using equipment that is energy efficient for the installation and the operation, installation of other sustainable systems like recapturing the water under the test for some other purposes and finally an integrated design (Pitts, 2009). The best way for the fire engineers to get involved in this approach is to follow the system with the local chapter level.

Conclusion:

The design of the tenants and the client’s aspiration lies on the making up of large open floor plates that incorporates open atria and also with the interconnected stories and spaces. This enhances the brightness of the building with the maximum airy feel with the natural ventilation while maintaining the principle of sustainability. In-order to obtain better funding with good corporate governance as well as attracting tenants and premium rental returns, the experts should meet the requirements of quantified reductions by employing resources such as energy and water. To lessen the energy, consumption, natural lighting present in huge open spaces as well as glass facades are encouraged. By evaluating the fire load within these spaces, fire protection engineers can monitor the smoke movement through interlinking spaces as well as create technical solutions simultaneously and create the solutions towards a low energy, natural ventilation method. For instance active smoke and fire curtains can offer code-required barrier between such as atria mezzanine as well as an adjacent escape route. This work presents sustainable materials that are used for the sustainable building construction and also the control and preventive measures taken in case of fire hazard happening in the building. Finally research implications that consist of appropriate variables and terms with the statistical test is presented that could be adapted for the future research study.

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