Fire Safety in High Rise Exterior Facades

One of the most complex yet least understood areas where fire can spread is at the perimeter of a building. Fire can not only spread from floor-to-floor via the edge-of-slab/curtainwall intersections but also along the exterior of the building enclosure. This is a rapidly growing concern for AEC professionals. As energy standards and building codes continue to evolve, the process of designing buildings (while also addressing energy efficiency) has become increasingly challenging. For example, to enhance energy efficiency, codes are prescribing air barriers and increasing amounts of continuous insulation in every climate zone. These components are often combustible and sometimes seem at odds with the building code. Moreover, there is a proliferation of exterior claddings (also often combustible) which designers can choose from. The objective of this white paper is to explore design and construction best practices, which are based on decades of full-scale fire testing and wall assembly performance during actual building fires.

Readers will:

• Gain a stronger understanding of the vertical spread of fire in high rise buildings and why fire containment is important for occupants in the building as well as emergency responders.
• Learn how to identify proper wall design techniques that will help provide fire safety in multi-story wall applications.
• Learn how common building materials, used in wall construction, behave when exposed to the rigors of fire per NFPA 285, ASTM E 2307 and ASTM E 119 fire tests.
• Be provided with the tools needed to design code compliant assemblies so that the fire can be contained to the floor of origin, allowing more time for occupants to evacuate the building.
• This white paper also provides an understanding of what design criteria are required for a rated assembly and assembly performance.