Chapter 13—Life Safety Systems 157

exhausted to the atmosphere. Supply air to the floor or floors above and below the fire zone can
be operated with 100% outdoor air to again pressurize the floor, effectively keeping the smoke-
laden air within the fire floor while it is exhausted to atmosphere.
An example of how the unit on the fire floor could operate is shown in Figure 13.1.
The units on the one or two floors above and below the fire floor will operate as shown in
Figure 13.1. For these units (1) the outdoor air for smoke pressurization and the outdoor air for
normal operation of the unit will both open, (2) the return air damper and the smoke exhaust
riser damper will both close, and (3) the supply unit will operate with 100% outdoor air. To
ensure sufficient outdoor air, all of the other floor-by-floor units using the outdoor air riser
must be shut and the outdoor air riser must be sized to provide sufficient air to the number of
floors on which the supply units will operate with 100% outdoor air.

SMOKE MANAGEMENT IN ATRIUMS

An architectural feature of many buildings is the inclusion of an atrium to enhance the aes-
thetics of the building. The inclusion of an atrium presents special conditions of smoke
removal that are usually covered within the operative code for the jurisdiction within which the
building is located. Until recently, codes in the United States have mandated that a required
rate of smoke removal be provided for an atrium in terms of air changes per hour over the total
volume of the atrium and any open, connected areas. The latest research has determined that
this approach of air changes over a period of time is not an appropriate solution for a proper
smoke management design for an atrium. Accordingly, both the International Building Code
(ICC 2012) and NFPA 5000-2015, Building Construction and Safety Code, use a performance-
based design approach detailed in NFPA 92B-2000, Standard for Smoke Management Systems
in Malls, Atria, and Large Spaces, and as discussed in Handbook of Smoke Control Engineer-
ing (Klote et al. 2012).
Tall commercial buildings that contain an atrium must be provided with a smoke manage-
ment system that will obtain smoke movement control and removal. Generally, this is accom-
plished through the use of mechanical fans. Natural venting of these spaces is not normally a
viable alternative. Under the International Building Code and NFPA 5000-2015, the fans that

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Figure 13.1 Pressurized floors above and below the smoke zone.

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 --```,``,,,`,,,,`,,,,,,`,,```,,,-`-`,,`,,`,`,,`--- 158 ASHRAE Design Guide for Tall, Supertall, and Megatall Building Systems

Figure 13.2 Floor-by-floor air-conditioning unit layout.

are installed in an atrium must function so as to contain the height of the accumulated smoke
layer in the upper portions of the atrium at a minimum of 10 ft (3 m) above the walking sur-
faces of the means of egress from the smoke zone. The exhaust fans will remove air from the
upper levels of the atrium. They will exhaust a sufficient quantity of air to keep the smoke
above the desired level from the largest calculated plume mass flow rate for alternative config-
urations possible. The means of determining the plume configuration will be based on the
design fire as defined in the building code. This, in turn, will permit the calculation of the fan
capacity that will obtain the goal of a 10 ft (3 m) smoke-clear area above the egress level. The
means of analyzing the plume configuration and exhaust fan capacity are detailed in NFPA
92B and in Handbook of Smoke Control Engineering.
The system must also be configured to provide a natural or mechanical supply of outdoor
air or air from spaces adjacent to the smoke zone to replace the air that is being exhausted.
The action of the designed system for the atrium is intended to maintain an environment
that will provide a means of egress for the occupants of the building while providing ongoing
conditions that will enable firefighting personnel to enter the space and both locate and control
the fire.

STAIRWELL PRESSURIZATION
Most building codes will require that the fire stairwells in a tall commercial building be
pressurized to keep them smoke free in the event of a fire in the building. The smoke-free
atmosphere is required for three reasons: (1) the stairs will be an area of refuge for building
occupants who are directed to leave a fire floor or floor in proximity to the fire floor, (2) the
stairs are an essential element in the escape route for the controlled evacuation of people from
the building, and (3) the stairs will be used by the firefighters as they attempt to control and
extinguish the fire.
The stair pressurization system must be capable of maintaining a pressure differential
between the stair and any floor that is sufficient to prohibit smoke-laden air from entering the
stairwell. The pressure differential will have a minimum and maximum value which, in the
case of the lower value, will be sufficient to keep the smoke from entering the stairwell and, in

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 Chapter 13—Life Safety Systems 159

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Figure 13.3 A large modern atrium.

the case of the maximum value, will still allow the door to be opened by occupants trying to
enter the stair. The minimum value stated in the NFPA 101-2000, Life Safety Code, is 0.05 in.
of water (12.4 Pa) in a sprinklered building. For a door 7 ft tall by 3 ft wide (2.1 m tall by 0.9 m
wide), this would yield a pressure of 5.5 pounds (24 N) against the total surface of the door.
NFPA 101-2000 limits the force that will be required to set the door in motion in a new build-
ing to 30 lb (133 N), which, for the same 7 ft tall by 3 ft wide (2.1 m tall by 0.9 m wide) door,
would equate to a pressure of 0.27 in. of water (67.2 Pa). This maximum allowable value need
not be the basis of the design and frequently the maximum pressure will be between 0.05 and
0.15 in. of water (12.4 and 37.3 Pa). However, the minimum and the maximum pressure will be
established in the design specifications, and this range of pressure differentials will need to be
maintained in the stair pressurization system.

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 160 ASHRAE Design Guide for Tall, Supertall, and Megatall Building Systems

Establishing this range of pressure is important as it is necessary to design any stairway

pressurization system to stay within this range with all doors closed or with a stipulated num-
ber of doors open. Alternative means of achieving these goals have resulted in a multiplicity of
configurations for stairwell pressurization systems, not all of which would be successful for the
tall commercial building.
For the tall commercial building, it is necessary to inject outdoor air into the stair at multi-
ple levels of the stair. There is not full agreement on the number of floors between the points of
injection, but three floors or less is probably a prudent recommendation.
The fans that bring the outdoor air into the stair will usually be located in mechanical
equipment rooms at more than one level in the building to limit the size of the vertical duct
attached to any fan installed to pressurize the stairs. Moreover, the air must be brought from a
location that will eliminate any possible contamination with smoke-laden air being expelled
from the building. Alternative means have been used to maintain the pressure in the stair
between the allowable minimum and maximum values. One successful means of maintaining
the pressure differential involves the installation of a series of barometric dampers, one on each
floor, to open when the maximum pressure is reached. The barometric dampers and the associ-
ated jumper duct will relieve excess air from the pressurized stair to the ceiling plenum adja-
cent to the stair. The jumper duct will require fire dampers that are necessary to retain the fire
rating of the exit stairs. The quantity of air being delivered by the fan under this arrangement
would be constant and would be determined by consideration of the number of floors served by
the fan, the tightness of the stair, and the maximum number of doors that can be opened at any
point of time.
An analysis with a network model can be used to evaluate if a pressurized elevator is capa-
ble of being successfully pressurized between the minimum and the maximum design pressure
differences. If analysis shows that successful pressurization is unlikely, the building can be
modified or an alternate system can be used. Some alternate systems include the following:
(1) stairwell compartmentation, (2) stairwell pressurization with fire floor exhaust, and (3)
stairwell ventilation. For more information about stairwell pressurization, see Chapter 15 of the
Handbook of Smoke Control Engineering (Klote et al. 2012).

ELEVATOR PRESSURIZATION
The elevator pressurization systems discussed in this section are intended to prevent
smoke from flowing from the fire floor through an elevator shaft and threatening life on other
floors. Usually, pressurized elevators are in buildings that have pressurized stairwells, and
buildings that have both usually need an engineering analysis done with network modeling.
Design of pressurized elevators is much more complicated than design of pressurized
stairwells, but there are a number of systems that can deal with this complexity. The reasons for
this complexity are as follows: (1) the building envelope is often not capable of effectively han-
dling the large airflow resulting from pressurization, and (2) open exterior doors on the ground
floor can cause high pressure differences across the elevator shaft at the ground floor. The basic
elevator pressurization system consists of only providing supply air the elevator shaft, but in
many situations the basic system cannot maintain successful pressurization.
An analysis with a network model can be used to evaluate if a pressurized elevator is capa-
ble of being successfully pressurized. If analysis shows that successful pressurization is
unlikely, the building can be modified or an alternate system can be used. Some alternate sys-
tems include the following:

• Exterior vent system

• Floor exhaust system
• Ground floor lobby system

Depending on local codes, an alternate system may need code approval. See Chapter 15 of
the Handbook of Smoke Control Engineering for more information about pressurized elevators.
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