Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Application of a Digitized Fuel Load Surveying Methodology to Office Buildings

  • Published:
Fire Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper discusses application of a new methodology that facilitates fuel load surveys in buildings. The methodology consists of four steps comprising digital inventory, data organization, item matching through computer vision, and fuel load estimation, and is programmed into a digitized surveying application. The present paper applies the methodology to three office buildings and provides the results of surveyed fuel load density. A total office area of 1720 m2 was surveyed consisting of 34 closed offices and 161 cubicles within 12 large open plan office spaces. Compartment areas range from 8 m2 to 87 m2 for closed offices and 24 m2 to 345 m2 for open plan offices. The measured fuel load density for movable content had a mean of 1115 MJ/m2 with a standard deviation of 614 MJ/m2. When including the fixed content, the measured total fuel load density had a mean of 1486 MJ/m2 with a standard deviation of 726 MJ/m2. These values are considerably larger than values found in older surveys and most code provisions. The surveyed rooms had large quantities of paper, which amounted to 54% of the movable fuel load on average. Based on these results, and findings from other recent surveys, it is recommended to collect additional data. The work has established the foundation toward a fully automatized method, relying on an electronic form and a structured database of recorded information. A wide adoption of this method could populate an extensive fuel load database which can then be used to provide design guidelines for fuel load density in codes and standards, for application in performance-based design.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Culver C, Kushner J (1975) A program for survey of fire loads and live loads in office buildings. NBS technical note 858, Gaithersburg, MD

  2. Cornell C (1972) Office live loads program formulation. National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Culver C (1976) Survey results for fire loads and live loads in office buildings. National Bureau of Standards, Washington D.C.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  4. Gross D (1977) Measurements of fire loads and calculations of fire severity. Wood and Fiber 9(1):72–85

    Google Scholar 

  5. Caro T, Milke J (1996). A survey of fuel loads in contemporary office buildings. NIST-GCR-96-697. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg

    Google Scholar 

  6. Bwalya A, Sultan M, Bénichou N (2004) A pilot survey of fire loads in Canadian homes. National Research Council Canada, Ottawa

    Google Scholar 

  7. Bwalya A, Lougheed G, Kashef A, Saber H (2011) Survey results of combustible contents and floor areas in Canadian multi-family dwellings. Fire Technol 47:1121–1140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Hadjisophocleous G, Zhengrong C (2010) A survey of fire loads in elementary schools and high schools. J Fire Prot Eng 20(1): 55–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Zalok E (2011) Validation of methodologies to determine fire load for use in structural fire protection. Final report prepared for the Fire Protection Research Foundation. Carleton University, Ottawa

  10. VKF and AEAI (2007) Note explicative de protection incendie—evaluation en vue de la determination de la grandeur des compartiments coupe-feu. Vereinigung Kantonaler Feuerversicherungen (VKF) and Association des établissements cantonaux d’assurance incendie (AEAI)

  11. Thauvoye C, Zhao B, Klein J, Fontana M (2008) Fire load survey and statistical analysis. In: Fire safety science—proceedings of the 9th international symposium, pp 991–1002

  12. Kumar S, Kameswara Rao C (1997) Fire loads in office buildings. J Struct Eng 123(3):365–368

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Barnett A, Horasan M, He Y (2017) Fire resistance level assessments in buildings and development of appropriate input data. In: Fire Australia conference and trade show, pp 113–133

  14. Elhami-Khorasani N, Salado Castillo JG, Gernay T (2020) A digitized fuel load surveying methodology using machine vision. Fire Technol. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-020-00989-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Manes M, Rush D (2019) A critical evaluation of BS PD 7974-7 structural fire response data based on USA fire statistics. Fire Technol 55(4):1243–1293

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Van Coile R, Jomaas G, Bisby L (2019) Defining ALARP for fire safety engineering design via the life quality index. Fire Saf J 107:1–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Gernay T, Elhami Khorasani N, Garlock M (2016) Fire fragility curves for steel buildings in a community context: a methodology. Eng Struct 113:259–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Gernay T, Elhami Khorasani N, Garlock M (2019) Fire fragility functions for steel frame buildings: sensitivity analysis and reliability framework. Fire Technol 55(4):1175–1210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. CEN (European Committee for Standardization) (2002) Part 1-2 general actions–actions on structures exposed to fire. Eurocode 1, Brussels

    Google Scholar 

  20. NFPA (2002) NFPA 557 Standard for determination of fire loads for use in structural fire protection. National Fire Protection Association, Quincy

    Google Scholar 

  21. Elhami Khorasani N, Garlock M, Gardoni P (2014) Fire load: survey data, recent standards, and probabilistic models for office buildings. Eng Struct 58:152–165

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Fire Protection Research Foundation (FPRF) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) for their generous support. The FPRF generously provided funding and guidance for this research project. The authors appreciate the efforts of the project technical panel who consisted of experts from different parts of the industry as follows: Craig Beyler, Jensen Hughes (retired); Florian Block, BuroHappold; Richard Davis, FM Global; Dave Frable, General Services Administration; Matt Hoehler, NIST; Chris Jelenewicz, SFPE; Kevin LaMalva, Simpson Gupertz & Heger; Drew Martin, Holmes Fire Safety; Margaret McNamee, Lund University; Brian Meacham, Meacham Associates; Jim Milke, University at Maryland; Steve Wolin, Reliable Automatic Sprinkler; Valeria Ziavras, NFPA staff liaison; Baran Ozden, NFPA staff liaison.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Negar Elhami-Khorasani, Juan Gustavo Salado Castillo, Esther Saula, Timothy Josephs & Gauhar Nurlybekova

  2. Department of Civil and Systems Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Thomas Gernay

Authors
  1. Negar Elhami-Khorasani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Juan Gustavo Salado Castillo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Esther Saula
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Timothy Josephs
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Gauhar Nurlybekova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Thomas Gernay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Negar Elhami-Khorasani.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Elhami-Khorasani, N., Salado Castillo, J.G., Saula, E. et al. Application of a Digitized Fuel Load Surveying Methodology to Office Buildings. Fire Technol 57, 101–122 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-020-00990-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-020-00990-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation