As a result of lessons learned about making skyscrapers safer in the aftermath of 9/11, New York City Council's Committee on Buildings and Housing enacted new legislation. Builders must now comply with NYC local law 26, both prospectively and retroactively. Part of this new law involves measures that will facilitate evacuation of occupants in the event of an emergency. Other mandates have been promulgated to prevent, or at least retard, the full-scale collapse of high-rise structures.
Among the retroactive requirements are installation of additional egress signage, power sources for exit signs and photoluminescent markers all within two to three years of the passage of the law. Installation of sprinklers is required by July 1, 2019, the date of the final report for compliance. NYC 26 applies to all buildings in the city that are in excess of 100 feet tall.
As the 9/11 incident was unfolding, those occupants of the Twin Towers who were in the lower floors, below the floors that were impacted by the planes, had a high rate of survival due to the comparative ease with which they were evacuated. One of the findings that led to NYC 26 was that the planes had severed the pipes to the sprinkler systems.
Efforts to exit the building were further hampered by the occupants' inability to find their way to the fire exits. This is why NYC 26 mandates improvements to signage, adding photoluminescent markings and powered exit signs. The architectural firm in charge of rebuilding the World Trade Center, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), is in the process of developing a system that will permit occupants to make limited use of elevators in the event of an evacuation from the higher floors.
These innovative, elevator-assisted fire evacuation systems are controversial, to say the least. Trying to convince a work force that has been inculcated since elementary school to avoid using elevators in an emergency situation that this is safe will be an uphill struggle. The world will be watching high-rise structures such as the Burj Kalifa in Dubai, where such as system has recently been implemented. Similar thinking is also being considered for a skyscraper in South Korea.
High-rise designers in America are also learning lessons from their international counterparts. One strategy borrowed from the British, who have been using it for years, is incorporating separate staircases for firefighters. Wider staircases are also being designed to make evacuation easier and faster.
New York is not the only city in the country, or even the world, that has learned lessons from 9/11. Builders all over the world are trying to make skyscrapers safe for occupants and workers. Los Angeles, where long-suffering architects have been trying to design high-rise structures to withstand earthquakes and strong winds, are also striving to improve security and safer in skyscrapers.
It is impossible to make every building 100 percent safe. Efforts to protect buildings and tenants safer in the event of a fire may well be counterproductive in the event of whatever unseen disasters lurk around the corner. All we can do is continue to learn and develop new ways of making people feel safer in skyscrapers.
Among the retroactive requirements are installation of additional egress signage, power sources for exit signs and photoluminescent markers all within two to three years of the passage of the law. Installation of sprinklers is required by July 1, 2019, the date of the final report for compliance. NYC 26 applies to all buildings in the city that are in excess of 100 feet tall.
As the 9/11 incident was unfolding, those occupants of the Twin Towers who were in the lower floors, below the floors that were impacted by the planes, had a high rate of survival due to the comparative ease with which they were evacuated. One of the findings that led to NYC 26 was that the planes had severed the pipes to the sprinkler systems.
Efforts to exit the building were further hampered by the occupants' inability to find their way to the fire exits. This is why NYC 26 mandates improvements to signage, adding photoluminescent markings and powered exit signs. The architectural firm in charge of rebuilding the World Trade Center, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), is in the process of developing a system that will permit occupants to make limited use of elevators in the event of an evacuation from the higher floors.
These innovative, elevator-assisted fire evacuation systems are controversial, to say the least. Trying to convince a work force that has been inculcated since elementary school to avoid using elevators in an emergency situation that this is safe will be an uphill struggle. The world will be watching high-rise structures such as the Burj Kalifa in Dubai, where such as system has recently been implemented. Similar thinking is also being considered for a skyscraper in South Korea.
High-rise designers in America are also learning lessons from their international counterparts. One strategy borrowed from the British, who have been using it for years, is incorporating separate staircases for firefighters. Wider staircases are also being designed to make evacuation easier and faster.
New York is not the only city in the country, or even the world, that has learned lessons from 9/11. Builders all over the world are trying to make skyscrapers safe for occupants and workers. Los Angeles, where long-suffering architects have been trying to design high-rise structures to withstand earthquakes and strong winds, are also striving to improve security and safer in skyscrapers.
It is impossible to make every building 100 percent safe. Efforts to protect buildings and tenants safer in the event of a fire may well be counterproductive in the event of whatever unseen disasters lurk around the corner. All we can do is continue to learn and develop new ways of making people feel safer in skyscrapers.
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