This report is intended to assist designers of smoke ventilation systems in atrium buildings. Most of the methods advocated are the outcome of research into smoke movement and control at the Fire Research Station (FRS), but also take into account experience gained and ideas developed whilst the authors and their colleagues have discussed many proposed schemes with interested parties. The primary purpose of the Report is to summarise in a readily usable form the design advice available from FRS at the time of its preparation, As such, it does not attempt to cover installation, detailed specification of hardware, or aspects of fire safety engineering other than smoke control.

The Handbook of Smoke Control Engineering extends the tradition of the comprehensive treatment of smoke control technology, including fundamental concepts, smoke control systems, and methods of analysis. The handbook provides information needed for the analysis of design fires, including considerations of sprinklers, shielded fires, and transient fuels. It is also extremely useful for practicing engineers, architects, code officials, researchers, and students. Following the success of Principles of Smoke Management in 2002, this new book incorporates the latest research and advances in smoke control practice. New topics in the handbook are: controls, fire and smoke control in transport tunnels, and full-scale fire testing. For those getting started with the computer models CONTAM and CFAST, there are simplified instructions with examples. This is the first smoke control book with climatic data so that users will have easy-to-use weather data specifically for smoke control design for locations in the U.S., Canada, and throughout the world. Systems discussed in the handbook include those for stairwell pressurization, elevator pressurization, zoned smoke control, and atrium smoke control. The latest smoke control research and most current engineering approaches are also included. Unique to previous smoke control literature, this handbook provides many example calculations to help designers prevent smoke damage.

An essential resource on the design and performance of common structural materials when they are exposed to fire.

First published in 1990. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This guide summarizes the advice available from the Fire Research Station, to designers of Smoke and Heat Exhaust Ventilation Systems (SHEVS) for atria and other buildings. It builds upon currently available published advice (especially BRE Report Design approaches for smoke control in atrium buildings[13], but also BRE Report Design principles for smoke ventilation in enclosed shopping centres[24]), by including more guidance on the use of the methods given, and by including the results of research carried out since the publication of ref. [13] in 1994. In particular, the use of a design fire size is considered in more detail, including: a discussion of growing fires; formulae and calculation methods to determine the deflection of smoke curtains in fire situations so that the specification of smoke curtains can become part of the SHEVS design; the effects due to airflow on the efficiency of natural smoke exhaust ventilators and on the stability of smoke layers. This guide does not consider the scenario where a fire in a room connecting to an atrium causes a flame plume to rise into the atrium. In this context, any large space adjoining the fire room may be considered to be an atrium, eg malls in shopping complexes. A discussion is included of the factors which need to be considered when specifying the hardware (ventilators, smoke curtains, etc.) required to implement the design in a building. Some advice is also included on: factors to be considered in installing the system in buildings; how to test the functioning of the equipment separately and as a complete system once it has been installed; and 'good practice' measures involving the management and maintenance of the system when the building is in everyday use. The purpose of this book therefore is to provide practical guidance on the design of smoke-control systems. It reflects current knowledge and is based on the results of research where available, including as yet unpublished results of experiments. In addition, it draws on the authors' cumulative experience of design features required for regulatory purposes in many individual smoke-control applications. Many of these design features have evolved over several years by consensus between regulatory authorities, developers and fire scientists, rather than by specific research. The methodology underpinning the book is explicitly empirical in approach and can easily be extended to most buildings. Where guidance is necessary to address practical design issues but there are gaps in the established knowledge-base, the authors have exercised their professional judgement in offering conservative, pragmatic advice. When guidance is offered in these circumstances any potential weaknesses are made explicit. Related to this is the continuance of the philosophy used in the book's predecessor BRE Reports[13,24] that even where a document is difficult to obtain, or even verbal private communication is the source of advice, it is listed as a reference.

This guideline defines ventilation and then natural ventilation. It explores the design requirements for natural ventilation in the context of infection control, describing the basic principles of design, construction, operation and maintenance for an effective natural ventilation system to control infection in health-care settings.

How the rise of the large-scale atrium space in the 1970s and ’80s changed the way buildings could be designed, constructed, regulated, and occupied. In the 1970s, a void opened at the heart of architecture. In hotels, offices, public buildings, and commercial centers, the atrium emerged globally to challenge the modernist legacies of form and function, altering the pattern and experience of cities. While often appearing at vast scale and to striking effect, the atrium also became omnipresent and mundane. In this lively critique, Charles Rice charts the atrium’s appearance in the 1970s and its development through the 1980s, as it accompanied profound shifts in the discipline and practice of architecture. During this period, architectural practice especially in the United States and United Kingdom was changing rapidly, due in part to the manifold effects of deregulation. All aspects of the way buildings were designed, developed, regulated, built, managed, and occupied were being reshaped. A practice guided by the progressive tenets of modernism was being turned into a professional service fully integrated within neoliberal social and economic imperatives. As Rice shows, the atrium gives this story a distinct spatial and material figure, one that offers an inside view of architecture in transformation.

A unique and revolutionary text which explains the principles behind the LT Method (2.1), a manual design tool developed in Cambridge by the BRE. The LT Method is a unique way of estimating the combined energy usage of lighting, heating, cooling and ventilation systems, to enable the designer to make comparisons between options at an early, strategic stage. In addition,Energy and Environment in Architecture the book deals with other environmental issues such as noise, thermal comfort and natural ventilation design. A variety of case studies provide a critique of real buildings and highlight good practice. These topics include thermal comfort, noise and natural ventilation.