Dr. S. Shyam Sunder

Lead Investigator

Deputy Director, Building and Fire Resea

National Institute of Standards and T

U.S. Department of Commer

NIST Response to the World Trade Ce

Federal Building and Fire Safety Inv

of 

the World Trade Center Disas

Dissemination and Technical Assistan

Update

September 12, 2005
Dissemin

and Tech

Assistance P

Dissemin

and Tech

Assistance P

BPAT

Recommendations

BPAT

Recommendations

Govt.

Industry

Professional

Academic

Inputs/Actions

Govt.

Industry

Professional

Academic

Inputs/Actions

Public Inputs/

Efforts

Public Inputs/

Efforts

Research &

Development

Research &

Development

WTC

Investigation

WTC

Investigation

Res

Res

Guidance and Tools for

Improved Practices

Guidance and Tools for

Improved Practices

Tec

B

Tec

B

Owners, Contractors, Designers,

Emergency Responders and

Regulatory Authorities

S
Industry Led Dissemination an

Industry Led Dissemination an

Technical Assistance Program Technical Assistance Program

Concept:Engage leaders of the construction and building communit

implementation of needed changes to practices, standa

Functions:Provide inputs and participate in developing best practices

tools for vulnerability assessment and reduction, guidaand codes needs.

Timely adoption, dissemination, and use of investigation re

and R&D outputs.

Partners: Codes and Standards developers, e.g., ICC, NFPA, ASMEProfessional, engineering organizations, e.g., IAFC, ASCE

AGC...

Industrial/trade bodies, e.g. CII, FIATECH, CERF, NIBS,...
Recommendations: Call to Action Recommendations: Call to Action

• NIST strongly urges:

• The building and fire safety communities to give 

serious consideration to these recommendations appropriate improvements in the way buildings aconstructed, maintained, and used and in evacuaemergency response procedures.

• Building owners and public officials to:

1. evaluate the safety implications of these recomme

existing inventory of buildings; and

2. take the steps necessary to mitigate any unwarran

waiting for changes to occur in codes, standards, 

• State and local agencies, well train

ed and man

a

g

enforc

e building cod

es and stand

ards sin

ce suc

critical to ensure the expected level of safety. 
Recommendations: NIST Actions Recommendations: NIST Actions

• After issuance of the final report, the National Con

Team Act requires NIST to:

• Conduct, or enable or encourage the conduct 

research recommended by the NCST Team; an

• Promote the appropriate adoption of the recom

Federal Government and other agencies and o

 NIST is assigning top priority to work vigorously w

and fire safety communities to assure that there is understanding of the recommendations and to protechnical assistance.
Recommendations: NIST Actions (

Recommendations: NIST Actions (

• As part of NIST’s overall WTC response plan, the Instit

reach out to the building and fire safety communities to timely, expedited consideration of recommendations stinvestigation. 

• Outreach to:

• model code organizations (IC

C, NFPA)

• standards development organizations (e.g., AS

C

E, NFPA, A

• state and local building officials (NCSBCS, AMCBO, NYC D

• the professional community, including presentations at majo

ASCE, AIA, IAFF, CTBUH, Chicago Committee on High-Ris

Engineers Foundation of Chicago, NCSBCS/AM

C

BO, CII, C

Board)

• Detailed briefing for designers of the WTC and lower Manhattan r

Silverstein, Port Authority, N

YC DOB officials, and Gol

d

m

an Sach

• WTC Technical Conference: Putting Recommendations into Prac

2005.

• NIST will establish a web-based system to track the status of the 
Strategy for Recommendations Strategy for Recommendations

Separate plan for each of the 30 recommendations:

 Team leader (responsible for proactive pursuit and 

support staff 

 Concise objective Needs to meet objective (NIST and others) Strategy (research, consensus, public policy) Workshops to facilitate consensus (NIBS) Schedules and required format for submitting prop

codes and standards

 Technical and position papers to build support
Proposals for Changes to Codes Proposals for Changes to Codes

 NIST has contracted the National Institute of Bui

(NIBS) to coordinate preparation of code change selected recommendations.

 NIBS is organizing a panel of recognized experts 

 Prioritize the recommendations (e.g., those th

translated directly into code change proposalrequire changes to standards, and those that additional research).

 Develop proposals for changes to building co

 Panel will prepare proposals for ICC and NFPA 5

coordinate submission with code update cycles. 
Recommendations: NIST Actions (

Recommendations: NIST Actions (

• NIST also has expanded its research in areas of high 

Examples include:

•

Prevention of Progressive Collapse

•

Fire Resistance Design and Retrofit of Structures

•

Fire Resistive Coatings for Structural Steel

•

Fire Resistance of Uncoated Str

uctural Steel with Improv

•

Fire Resistance of Building Partitions

•

Occupant Behavior and Egress 

•

Emergency Use of Elevators

•

Equipment Standards for First Responders

•

Standard Building Infor

mation Models for Vulnerability A

•

Technologies for Building Operations in CBR Attacks

•

Cost-effective Risk Management Tools