There has been a significant rise in the number of super tall buildings in the world in the recent past and more especially in the Far East. The tremendous and rapid urbanization has led to this phenomenon and even in some cities; these buildings have been built for residential purposes. Buildings that are more than 984 feet tall or 300 meters are classified as super tall buildings by The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. The designers and developers of these buildings try to put into consideration the safety of these buildings.
However, there has been an increased concern about the fire safety of super tall buildings given that fires in these buildings have a high release rate and are subject to wind action (Chow 1). It is clear that with the emergency of super tall buildings in the world today, there are no set or published standard fire safety codes that apply to these structures and the public is yet to have confidence on the fire safety of these buildings. Therefore, fire safety for super tall buildings as well as evacuation is a concern that needs to be addressed with clear and strict fire codes and assure the public that the buildings are safe in case of any fire.
The article tries to delve deep into the safety of super tall buildings in case of fire and how safe the super tall buildings are in an event of fire under wind action. The article also tries to address how high speed winds can contribute the spread of fire in super tall buildings especially at high levels where there is many combustible materials. Winds accelerate the spread of fire especially where there are materials that catch fire at a fast rate and burns quickly. The problem in the article is clearly identifies as fire safety of super tall building, and the article tries to explore possible causes of fires and various measures that can be put in place to avoid such scenarios.
The wind effect plays a major role in fire in super tall buildings. The rapid spread of fire and smoke can be as a result of the sufficient air that enters the buildings at high levels as well as the amount of materials that burn quickly in the buildings. The problem mainly affects the public who are constantly worried of their safety while they are in these buildings. The fact that there have been fire outbreaks in a number of these buildings also justifies their worry about the capability systems that are installed to curb a fire outbreak.
It is very important to highlight fire safety issues in super tall buildings because of the increasing concern from the public, officials, developers and governments alike. Bringing to fore these concerns will elicit actions from relevant quarters to look into this issue to ensure safety in super tall buildings whose number is on a steady rise. Therefore, this article is timely in highlighting this issue so that there would be enough information about the importance of fire safety in tall buildings, the possible cause or spread factors of fires and the possible evacuation systems.
The computations on the effects of wind on fire are clearly done and the nomenclature is present well. It is very important that the fire safety procedures and evacuation plans for super tall buildings should be outlined carefully (Ng 218). The result section is well organized by precisely outlining the way winds speeds can influence any fire and the ventilation aspects that can accelerate or inhibit a fire. The conclusion part of the article is an important part and it is well defined because it summaries the main points of the article and shows a clear detail of the role of high speed wind in super tall building fires. There should be elaborate set standards for the fire safety of tall buildings.
Evacuation procedures should also be clearly set out so that it can take minimum time to evacuate the buildings in case of fire. There should be awareness to the public about these safety procedures to boost their confidence in these buildings. The article is well organized and presented because it offers the basic understanding of how combustible materials in residential homes lead to the spread of fires. The article also illustrates the effects of high winds in the spread of fires in tall buildings mostly in the Far East. However, the article should provide a clear mechanism or system of evacuation in the event of a fire outbreak in super tall buildings.
Work cited
Ng, Edward. Designing High-Density Cities for Social and Environmental Sustainability. London: Earthscan, 2010. Print.
Chow, W. “Fire Safety Concern for Supertall Buildings.” ASHRAE Papers. NY-14-C092. PDF file.
