DOB Findings and Recommendations for WTC, Feb 2003

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

I Recommendation 6. Improve marking of the egress path, doors and stairs with photo- luminescent materials and retrofit existing exit signs with either battery or generator backup power

4.2.3 Planning and Training for Evacuation The current NYC building and fire code requirements for occupancy group E, relative to evacuations in the event of a fire, has consistently protected the safety of New Yorkers over the decades. With regard to fire related emergencies, present evacuation requirements will remain unchanged. However, the possibility of other unforeseen catastrophic events must be addressed relative to evacuation. i The Working Group discussed and determined there was a need for mandated, non-fire related full evacuation plans. Currently partial evacuation plans and fire drills are required. This type of planning and training will also help to confirm the use and availability existing egress paths such as doors, stairs and roofs. Many building owners and managers have already begun full evacuation planning and training. The Task Force recommends a requirement that all high rise office buildings (occupancy group E) have full evacuation plans for non-fire related events.

Recommendation 7. Mandate a full building evacuation plan for non-fire related events.

4.2.4 Auxiliary Systems Auxiliary egress systems and technologies that support and reinforce customary systems were also discussed. Included in considerations were built systems such as fire towers and protected vestibules at elevator lobbies along with new technologies such as so-called "Phase III" elevators. The use of fire towers, an option in the current NYC Building Code, is in practice, discouraged because the fire tower's floor area must be included as a part of the floor area ratio (FAR), a calculation of a building's maximum floor area. A fire tower's area is counted as floor area, like occupied space. To make the option of constructing fire towers more appealing, the Task Force i recommends a FAR "subtraction" for fire towers. Buildings that include a fire tower should be allowed to discount the floor area of the fire tower in the FAR permitted for development. This recommendation would require a change in the Zoning Resolution and would have to be made in conjunction with the Department of City Planning. The mandating of protected vestibules at elevator lobbies was viewed favorably by the Emergency Evacuation Working Group. Proposed legislation is included in the appendix.

Elevator evacuation is counter to the current standard restricting the use of elevators during an emergency. Fire fighters and rescue personnel use elevators, during both fire and non-fire emergencies. New technologies currently under development to build "Phase III" (waterproof and smoke proof elevators suitable for use during emergencies) were discussed. Making recommendations for the use of this nascent technology now, or in the near future, was seen as premature by the Working Group. NIST will be studying this issue.

February 2003 WTC Building Code Task Force Page 21 Findings and Recommendations

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