DOB Findings and Recommendations for WTC, Feb 2003

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

4.3.3 Fire Safety Personnel and Operations Public Forum participants recommended additional training for Fire Safety Directors to include use of fire pumps and static pressure devices as well as requiring a "dedicated" fire safety director at all times.

The Task Force recommends additional training be incorporated into existing Fire Safety Directors’ courses to reflect new evacuation requirements. I

Recommendation 14. Provide additional training for Fire Safety Directors.

4.4 Mechanical Systems Mechanical systems support building use and are found throughout a building's infrastructure, transforming a barren building structure into a functioning environment able to support occupant safety under normal and emergency conditions.

More than in any other group deliberations, the effect of the discrete elements of a system on its whole, shaped and steered group discussion. Systems were examined in a methodical way, broken down into their elemental parts and re-assembled. The major areas of focus were; • fuel oil storage and transfer/distribution piping • emergency power generators I I • elevators • . heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC)

4.4.1 Fuel Oil Storage and Transfer/Distribution Piping The need for emergency energy generation is a substantial one for all buildings but has become essential to the large number of industries that function on a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week basis. • . r

The advent of the electronic age has resulted in offices becoming dependent upon computers and communications systems. All of these systems require a reliable, uninterrupted supply of electricity. New York City's preeminent position as the world capital for business, finance, and communication, is dependent on office space with these secure facilities. This has led businesses of many types (telecommunications, finance, banking, corporate administration, etc.) to install emergency electrical generating plants. These generating plants have become an integral part of office operations.

Traditionally, fuel oil day tanks, placed on individual floors of a building, were sufficient to I generate enough energy to see a building through an interruption of normal service from a power f supplier. For many building uses, this is no longer the case. The current code limits the amount of fuel oil stored in day tanks and the number of tanks that can be placed on a floor. As a result, there has been an increase in the use of oversized transfer piping to the day tank, with diameters beyond what is necessary from an engineering standpoint being installed. These pipes create a reservoir capacity that exceeds the day tank limit, which, while not strictly creating a non- ( compliance, disregards the intention of the code - to set safe limits on the amount of stored fuel I

.oil. The group recommends that the diameter of transfer piping be limited to a size appropriate to its function of transferring oil, not holding it in reserve.

Page 24 WTC Building Code Task Force February 2003 Findings and Recommendations

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