# Presentation: 359843

## Building and Fire Researchat the National Institute of Standards and TechnologyStandards in Trade Workshop for China on Fire Protection for the Built EnvironmentSeptember 21, 2004Dr. S. Shyam SunderActing Deputy Director

## NIST: A Unique Mission and Assets

**NIST Assets Include:**

**3,000 employees**
**1,600 associates**
**$825 million FY 2003 operating budget**
**NIST Laboratories**
**Advanced Technology Program**
**Manufacturing Extension Partnership **
**Baldrige National Quality Award**

**NIST’s mission** is to develop and promote measurement, standards, and technology to enhance productivity, facilitate trade, and improve the quality of life.

## NIST’s Intramural Laboratories

**NIST’s Intramural Laboratories**

## World Renowned Scientists and Engineers

- John Cahn
*1998 National Medal of Science*

- Deborah S. Jin
- 2003 MacArthur Fellowship ‘*Genius Grant*’

**World Renowned Scientists and Engineers**

- Bill Phillips
*1997 Nobel Prize in Physics*

- Johanna Sengers
*2003 Women in Science Awards and NAS Member*

- Gregory Linteris
- Flew 2 Space Shuttle Missions

- Eric Cornell
*2001 Nobel Prize in Physics*

## Building and Fire Research Laboratory Goals

**Building and Fire Research Laboratory Goals**

**Fire Loss Reduction**

**Enhanced Building **
**Performance**

**Homeland Security**

**High-Performance**
**Construction Materials**
**and Systems**

## BFRL at a Glance

***BFRL Mission***
*Meet the measurement and standards needs of the building and fire safety communities. *
***BFRL Vision***
*The source of critical tools - metrics, models, and knowledge - used to modernize the building and fire safety communities. *
***Key Facts***
*155 full time staff (126 professional)*
*$44 million annual budget*
*Unique facilities including: *
*	**Integrating Sphere UV exposure chamber; Tri-directional test facility; *
*	**12 million pound testing machine; Solar tracker; Large scale fire test *
*	**facility; Environmental chambers*
*The Nation’s federal civilian laboratory dedicated to building and fire safety*

## BFRL at a Glance

**BFRL Goals**
**High Performance Construction Materials and Systems:** to enable scientific and technology-based innovation to modernize and enhance the performance of construction materials and systems.
**Enhanced Building Performance:** to provide the means to assure buildings work (better) throughout their useful lives. The strategy for meeting this goal is to provide knowledge, measurements and tools to optimize building life cycle performance.
**Fire Loss Reduction:  **to enable engineered fire safety for people, products, and facilities; and enhance fire fighter effectiveness.
**Homeland Security:**  to develop and implement the standards, technology, and practices needed for cost-effective improvements to the safety and security of buildings and building occupants, including evacuation, emergency response procedures, and threat mitigation.
***Our programs are identified, developed, carried out, the results implemented, and consequences measured in partnership with key customer organizations.***

## BUILDING AND FIRE RESEARCH LABORATORY ORGANIZATION

- Materials and Construction Research Division
**J. St. Pierre**
- Acting Chief

- Structures
- Construction Metrology and Automation
- Polymeric Materials
- Inorganic Materials

- HVAC&R Equipment Performance Group
- Mechanical Systems & Controls
- Heat Transfer & Alternative Energy Systems
- Computer-Integrated Building Processes
- Indoor Air Quality & Ventilation

- Fire Fighting Technology
- Fire Metrology
- Analysis & Prediction
- Integrated Performance Assessment
- Materials & Products

- Building
- Environment Division
**G.E. Kelly**
- Chief

- Fire Research
- Division
**W. L. Grosshandler**
- Chief

- Director
**J. E. Hill**
- Acting Deputy Director
**S. S. Sunder**
- Associate Director
**P. Domich**

- Office of Applied Economics
**H.E. Marshall**

## BFRL Professional Staff

**Other**

**Phy. Sci.**

**Chemistry**

**Engineering**

**Physics**

**Econ/OR**

**Math**

**BFRL**

**   ****NIST**

**Bac.**

**MS**

**PhD**

**23%**

**22%**

**25%**

**53%**

**25%**

**52%**

## A Few Historical Contributions 

- Fire Hose Coupling standards.
- First model zoning ordinance.
- Fire Resistance tests, Time Temperature Curve. ASTM E119.
- Calculation of compounds in Portland Cement, R.H. Bogue.
- From 2x6’s to 2x4’s in the 1940’s.
- Performance concept for standards and codes.
- Disaster investigations: San Fernando Earthquake, Kansas City
- 	 Skywalk, ...
- HUD’s “Operation Breakthrough.”
- ASHRAE Standard 90: Energy Conservation in Buildings.
- Flammable fabrics.
- Residential smoke detectors UL 217.
- Guarded hot plate for thermal insulation.
- Fire Safety Evaluation Systems in NFPA Life Safety Code.
- BACnet standard for open systems integration of building systems.
- Sponsorship of FIATECH and the Capital Projects Technology Roadmap, (see www.fiatech.org).

## How NIST products get into use in building practices, standards and codes. 

- NIST *listens* to major national bodies to identify priority issues.
- NIST *organizes* workshops to define problem, approach and desired products.
- NIST and its partners *develop technical basis* for potential change to practice, standards or codes, typically in form of measurement, test method, performance prediction tool, etc.
- NIST generally, seeks *performance-based tools* and to foster open systems and processes, thus facilitate innovation and competitiveness.
- NIST participates in *international standardization* activities and works closely with overseas counterparts to maintain awareness, push open systems, spot barriers to trade.
- NIST works with intended users to *demonstrate value in use* of the emerging product.
- NIST *participates* in technical standards committees, and publicly disseminates NIST product.
- National professional, engineering, standards or code developing organizations adopt.
- Key players we are working with on the WTC Response are listed on a later slide.
**Total cycle times vary from months to decades**

## National Construction Safety Team Act PL 107-231

- Authorizes Director of NIST to launch teams, when practicable, within 48 hours of building failures.
- Tailored to events involving substantial loss of life or that posed significant potential for substantial loss of life – e.g., extreme natural events (earthquakes, hurricane, tornado, flood, etc.), building fires, failure during construction or in active use, act of terrorism, Presidential disaster declaration, activation of National Response Plan
- Modeled by Congress after NTSB:  establishes national capability to investigate major building failures that has not previously existed.
- Fills void, broadly supported, will facilitate beneficial changes in practice, standards and codes.
- NIST is the designated lead agency to assess:
- -	Building performance
- -	Emergency response
- -	Evacuation procedures
-  Authorities include...
- -	Entry/Inspection, Collection of evidence
- -	Subpoena, Briefings, Hearings, Witnesses
- -	Priority (except for NTSB and criminal acts)

## WTC    Response Plan

**WTC    Response Plan**

**BPAT**
**Recommendations**

**WTC**
**Investigation**

**Research &**
**Development**

**Dissemination**
**and Technical**
**Assistance Program**

**Govt.**
**Industry**
**Professional**
**Academic**
**Inputs/Actions**

**Public Inputs/**
**Efforts**

**Guidance and Tools for**
**Improved Practices**

**Technical Basis for Improved**
**Building and Fire Codes**
**and Standards**

**Owners, Contractors, Designers,**
**Emergency Responders and**
**Regulatory Authorities**

**Standards and Code Development  Organizations**

## WTC Investigation Plan

**Technical**
**findings and recommendations**
- Dissemination
- & deployment
- of findings
- via R&D and DTAP

_***Objective 4:***__** **_**Building codes, standards, and practices that warrant revision**

_***Objective 1:***_** How WTC buildings 1, 2, & 7 collapsed**

_***Objective 2:***_** **
**Procedures and practices **
**used in design, construction, **
**operation, and maintenance of WTC Buildings**

_***Objective 3:***_** Role of location on injuries and fatalities**

**Identify Technical Issues & Major Hypotheses**

- Government
- Industry
- Professional
- Academic
- Inputs/Actions

- BPAT
- Recommendations

**Public Inputs/**
**Efforts**

## Summary of WTC Investigation Projects

**7. Evacuation**

**2. Baseline Performance & Impact Damage**

**1. Analysis of Codes and Practices**

**5. Active Fire Protection**

**4. Thermal & Tenability Environment**

**Summary of WTC Investigation Projects**

- Lead Investigator - Dr. Shyam Sunder

**6. Structural Collapse**

**8. Fire Service Response**

## Safety of Threatened Buildings R&D Program

**Objective:**  To provide a technical foundation that supports improvements to codes, standards, and practices that reduce the impact of extreme threats to the safety of buildings, their occupants and emergency responders.

** **_**Major Outcomes:**_
** ****Increased Structural Integrity **
** ****Enhanced Fire Resistance**
** ****Improved Emergency Egress & Access  **
** ****Building & Emergency Equipment Standards & Guidelines**

## Safety of Threatened Buildings R&D Program

**Safety of Threatened Buildings R&D Program**

-  **Prevention of Progressive Collapse**
-  To develop and implement performance
-  criteria for codes and standards, tools, and
-  practical guidance for prevention of
-  progressive structural collapse.

** ****Fire Safe Building Structures****	**
-  To develop and implement verified and
-  improved standards, tools, methodology
-  and guidance for the fire safety design and
-  retrofit of concrete and steel structures.

** **_**Increased Structural Integrity**_

_**Enhanced Fire Resistance**_

**Fire Protective Coatings for Structural Steel - **Predictive criteria for selection of fire protective coatings to accelerate development of materials with reduced vulnerability to extreme events.

**Fire Resistance of Building Partitions**** **
- Technical basis for accurate measurement &
- prediction methodologies for inclusion of fire
- resistance properties of walls,floors & ceilings
- in performance-based fire safety design

**Fire Resistance of Uncoated Structural**
**Steel -** Develop efficient test method for evaluating fire resistance of steel; Benefits of FR steel not adequately tested under ASTM E119

## Safety of Threatened Buildings R&D Program

**Safety of Threatened Buildings R&D Program**

**Occupant Behavior and Egress**** **
- Reliable predictions of time to egress

_**Improved Emergency**_
_** **__**Egress & Access**_

**Emergency Use of Elevators**
- Technical and procedural means to allow use of elevators during emergencies for evacuation of occupants with disabilities from, and for first responder access to, high rise buildings

_**Building & Emergency **_
_**Equipment Stds & Guidelines**_

**Equipment Standards for First Responders - **Technologies that enhance building information transfer to support informed fire fighting decisions

**Standard Information Models  **
- Standard building information models that facilitate simulation of building system behavior during adverse events

**Technologies for Building Operations in CBR Attacks - **Analysis tools and guidance for assessment and subsequent reductions in vulnerability of buildings to CBR attacks

**Cost-effective Risk Management Tools **User-friendly tool for building owners/managers to aid in selection of cost-effective strategies for management of terrorist and environmental risks

##  Industry-Led Dissemination and Technical Assistance Program

**Concept:**
- 	Engage leaders of the construction and building community in assuring timely implementation of needed changes to practices, standards, and codes.
**Functions:**
- 	Provide inputs and participate in developing best practices, guidance and tools for vulnerability assessment and reduction, guidance on standards and codes needs.
- 	Timely adoption, dissemination, and use of investigation recommendations and R&D outputs.
**Partners:****  **
- 	Codes and standards developers, e.g., ICC, NFPA, ASME, ASTM...
- 	Professional, engineering organizations, e.g., IAFC, ASCE, SFPE, AIA, AGC...
- 	Industrial/trade bodies, e.g. CII, FIATECH, CERF, NIBS,...** **

## Contact Info

**S. Shyam Sunder**
**Acting Deputy Director**
**Tel:  301-975-6850**
**Fax:  301-975-4032**
- _[sunder@nist.gov](mailto:sunder@nist.gov)_
**NIST Building and Fire Research Laboratory**
**100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 8600**
**Gaithersburg, MD  20899-8600**
- _[www.bfrl.nist.gov](http://www.bfrl.nist.gov/)_
**wtc.nist.gov**