The question of what to do about tall buildings in the wake of the attack on the World Trade Centre has been addressed by the industry institutions.
The design of tall buildings should change following events at the World Trade Centre according to a report by several construction bodies. The report, Safety in tall buildings and other buildings with large occupancies, puts forward a number of suggestions about structural design, fire protection, means of escape and building security.

The report is the result of a study coordinated by the Institute of Structural Engineers, and including CIBSE, RIBA, ICE and others. It calls for air distribution systems to be designed for rapid shutdown, incorporating redundancy routes and provision for isolating damaged or contaminated zones.

"We are not expecting buildings to withstand outright attacks of war but I think we are hoping to mitigate damage caused by people acting on a small scale which cannot be detected or forestalled," says Max Fordham who was part of the working group behind the report.

"One of the recommendations is that managers of buildings make plans to deal with events of this kind and if, for example, there is a biological attack to only shut down the ventilation system if it is the right thing to do," adds Fordham.

Other recommendations include maintaining power for essential services such as fire fighting and escape lifts, and smoke control systems as well as making vulnerable points such as air handling units difficult to access by unauthorised people and monitored with detection systems.

For more details visit www.istructe.org.uk

Source

Building Sustainable Design