Date
6-2014
Degree Name
MS in Fire Protection Engineering
College
College of Engineering
Advisor
Frederick Mowrer and Christopher Pascual
Abstract
This report provides a summary of the fire protection and life safety features for UW Medicine Lake Union, a research and laboratory building, in accordance with Seattle Building Code (SBC), International Building Code (IBC), and Life Safety Code (NFPA 101). The objective of this report is to identify if UW Medicine Lake Union meets both the prescriptive and performance based code. The primary fire safety goal is to provide life safety system that reduced the risk of fire-related injuries and loss of life due to fire. The prescriptive analysis is used to identify the building integrity per code. This evaluates the egress capacity, fire detection, fire suppression and structural fire protection. The UW Medicine Lake Union includes numerous laboratories that regularly utilize various hazardous materials. According to the literature in the Architectural drawings, the design team worked with the university does that the chemical quantities in these areas would not exceed the limits set forth in the code. With these limits in place, portions of the facility did not need to be classified as hazardous occupancy, and the special provisions associated with a hazardous occupancy. Although its spaces are used in various ways, the building was able to be classified as business occupancy. Hazardous occupancy areas were not required because hazardous materials were limited to the code-defined exempt quantities. These details helped simplify the overall life safety and egress system, while providing appropriated levels of life safety. UW Medicine Lake Union Building is high rise building with seven story research and development laboratory and two levels of below grade parking garages. It includes testing and research laboratories, laboratory support, offices and conference room. It is approximately 317,382 square feet in gross area and a building height of 109 feet. It is classified as B occupancy classification. The facility is protected throughout by automatic sprinkler and fire alarm systems. The building was constructed in 2011 in accordance with the 2009 Seattle Building Code with a Type 1A construction. See 2.6 Type and Description of Construction. The total occupant load is 2797 occupants. See Table 4: Summary of Occupant Loads. The UW Medicine Lake Union building has six (6) exit discharge. The Main and Back Entrance exit door have 72” doors; P1 (Stair 1), Retail and South exit (stair 3) door have 36” doors, and the garage exit door (stair 4) have 44” door that leads to the public way. See Figure 19: Egress Capacity, Travel Distance & Wall Rating - Level 1 for location of exit discharge. Stair 1, 3 and 4 have 44” stairs with 36” door. Stair 2 have 62” stairs with 4 doors around it namely (2) 36”,(1) 42” and (1) 48”doors. Stair 15 has 36” stairs with 36” door. The basic requirement for all exit access path is that direct and unobstructed paths to exits are provided through easily identifiable routes. The Fire Alarm System is comprised of a Notifier NFS2-3030D Fire Alarm Control Panel, smoke detectors, manual pull stations, addressable interface modules, addressable interface relays, Fire Alarm Horn/Strobes (Clear Strobes), Smoke detection are located in transformer, electrical and communication rooms that do not have sprinkler protection, elevator machine rooms and elevator lobbies, within 5 feet of doors leading to pressurized stairways (except at Parking areas) and duct smoke detection. Refer to Chapter 3 Fire Alarm and Detection. Emergency voice alarm/communication system is provided in accordance with SBC 907.5.2.2. Notification devices are activated by smoke or heat detectors, sprinkler waterflow, or manual pull stations. Audible alarms are provided per SBC 907.5.1 and visible alarms per SBC 907.5.3. A code alternate is provided for Vivarium and BSL3 areas. See 3.2.2.3 Code Alternate for Vivarium and BSL3. Fire Protection standpipe and automatic fire sprinkler systems are supplied by an electric fire pump with automatic transfer switch to emergency generator power. The fire pump will draw water from an on-site storage tank (secondary water supply) located next to the fire pump room on Basement Level 3. The capacity of the water storage tank is 44,300 gallons with a net usable water capacity of 33,000 gallons. The water storage tank fill will be a 6” diameter water line supplied by a dedicated fire water service connection to the city water control valves and a 6” manual by pass valve. The fire pump room is constructed with 2-hour fire rated construction. Refer to Chapter 4 Fire Suppression Systems. The performance based design is used to determine how the building will perform under a fire condition. The tenability criteria are: temperature less than 60°C, carbon monoxide less than 1400 ppm, visibility greater than 10 meters and a smoke layer height to be greater than 2 meters off the floor. See Chapter 8 Performance Based Analysis for analysis.
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/fpe_rpt/19
Final Presentation
DOI
10.15368/fperpt.2014.3