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Fire Evacuation in High-rise Buildings: a Review on Human Behaviour and Modelling Research

Ronchi, Enrico LU orcid and Nilsson, Daniel LU (2012)
Abstract
A review of literature related to fire evacuation in high-rise buildings was carried out with the objectives to (1) identify the key behavioural factors associated with the event of a fire in a high-rise building, (2) review the current procedures and strategies currently adopted in high-rise buildings (e.g. horizontal and vertical evacuation methods, phased evacuation, total evacuation, defend-in-place, etc.), (3) review the capabilities of the currently available egress models to simulate high-rise building evacuations, (4) review the previous applications of egress models for high-rise building evacuations, and (5) suggest areas on which future research should focus on. The review included both findings on human behaviour in high-rise... (More)
A review of literature related to fire evacuation in high-rise buildings was carried out with the objectives to (1) identify the key behavioural factors associated with the event of a fire in a high-rise building, (2) review the current procedures and strategies currently adopted in high-rise buildings (e.g. horizontal and vertical evacuation methods, phased evacuation, total evacuation, defend-in-place, etc.), (3) review the capabilities of the currently available egress models to simulate high-rise building evacuations, (4) review the previous applications of egress models for high-rise building evacuations, and (5) suggest areas on which future research should focus on. The review included both findings on human behaviour in high-rise building and modelling techniques and tools. Different categories of high-rise building use were taken into account, namely office buildings, residential buildings (e.g., hotels, apartment buildings) and health care facilities. The use of different egress components was analysed, either individually or in a joint manner. Egress components include the use of stairs, elevators as well as alternative means of escape (e.g., sky-bridges, helicopters, etc.). The effectiveness of the egress components is strongly affected by the building use and the population involved. The review shows that evacuation models can be effectively employed to study relocation strategies and safety issues associated with high-rise buildings. The suitability of egress models for high-rise building evacuations is associated with their flexibility in representing different egress components and the complex behavioural processes that may take place. The review highlights that there is not a definitive model to be used for this type of environments but that the predictive capabilities of evacuation modelling techniques would be enhanced if more than one model is employed to study different egress aspects. Future research and model developments should focus on the study of the impact of staff actions, group dynamics and people with disabilities. Given the increasing height of buildings and the gradual reduction in the physical skills of the population, the effects of fatigue on evacuation need further studies. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Book/Report
publication status
published
subject
keywords
High-rise building evacuation, Human Behaviour in Fire, Egress Modelling, Stair Evacuation, Evacuation Elevators, Occupant Relocation Strategies
pages
37 pages
publisher
Lund University. Department of Fire Safety Engineering and Systems Safety
report number
3166
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f4267411-00a3-4c51-9b76-d28b133ccd80 (old id 3914813)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 11:43:48
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:06:49
@techreport{f4267411-00a3-4c51-9b76-d28b133ccd80,
  abstract     = {{A review of literature related to fire evacuation in high-rise buildings was carried out with the objectives to (1) identify the key behavioural factors associated with the event of a fire in a high-rise building, (2) review the current procedures and strategies currently adopted in high-rise buildings (e.g. horizontal and vertical evacuation methods, phased evacuation, total evacuation, defend-in-place, etc.), (3) review the capabilities of the currently available egress models to simulate high-rise building evacuations, (4) review the previous applications of egress models for high-rise building evacuations, and (5) suggest areas on which future research should focus on. The review included both findings on human behaviour in high-rise building and modelling techniques and tools. Different categories of high-rise building use were taken into account, namely office buildings, residential buildings (e.g., hotels, apartment buildings) and health care facilities. The use of different egress components was analysed, either individually or in a joint manner. Egress components include the use of stairs, elevators as well as alternative means of escape (e.g., sky-bridges, helicopters, etc.). The effectiveness of the egress components is strongly affected by the building use and the population involved. The review shows that evacuation models can be effectively employed to study relocation strategies and safety issues associated with high-rise buildings. The suitability of egress models for high-rise building evacuations is associated with their flexibility in representing different egress components and the complex behavioural processes that may take place. The review highlights that there is not a definitive model to be used for this type of environments but that the predictive capabilities of evacuation modelling techniques would be enhanced if more than one model is employed to study different egress aspects. Future research and model developments should focus on the study of the impact of staff actions, group dynamics and people with disabilities. Given the increasing height of buildings and the gradual reduction in the physical skills of the population, the effects of fatigue on evacuation need further studies.}},
  author       = {{Ronchi, Enrico and Nilsson, Daniel}},
  institution  = {{Lund University. Department of Fire Safety Engineering and Systems Safety}},
  keywords     = {{High-rise building evacuation; Human Behaviour in Fire; Egress Modelling; Stair Evacuation; Evacuation Elevators; Occupant Relocation Strategies}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3166}},
  title        = {{Fire Evacuation in High-rise Buildings: a Review on Human Behaviour and Modelling Research}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/5841462/3914818.pdf}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}