Forum focuses on new thinking in high-rise evacuation procedures.

The Ornamental Metal Institute of New York and the Architectural Engineering Institute of ASCE announced its recent symposium on Egress Stairs in High-Rise Buildings, a special one-day event designed to focus on new thinking in high-rise evacuation.

The symposium took place on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 at the McGraw-Hill Auditorium, located at 1221 Avenue of the Americas in New York City. The all-day program offered important information for the design community as well as for building owners and operators and their risk management specialists.

Featured during the day were many of the leading researchers and practitioners in building safety who discussed impacts on egress design and evacuation strategies resulting from the tragedies of recent years.

Their presentations examined the foundations for current egress provisions and discussed recommendations resulting from the 2005 National Institute of Standards and Technology World Trade Center investigation and the response to these recommendations from code development organizations and the building community.

The program concluded with a panel of presenters and stakeholders sharing their ideas on what they feel is essential in the present era for safe egress from high-rise buildings.

Presentations included: Historical foundations of egress design, presented by Carl F. Baldasarra, P.E., president of Schirmer Engineering Corporation and member of the ICC CodeTechnology Committee reviewing NIST recommendations; Review of evacuation strategies, presented by Ray Grill, PE, FSFPE, Arup, and member NFPA High-rise Safety Committee; Overview of egress challenges, presented by Jason Averill, Research Engineer, Building and Fire Research Laboratory, NIST; Exits and exit access: how many and what type? Presented by Randy Tucker, executive VP, The RJA Group; Evacuation issues: who, when, where? Presented by Dan O'Connor, P.E., vice president of Engineering, Schirmer Engineering Corporation; Construction of the exit enclosure: what threats? Presented by Jon Magnusson, P.E., CEO, Magnusson Klemencic Inc., and Steve Winkel, P.E., FAIA, The Preview Group;

High-rise egress: what are the human factors? Presented by Guylene Proulx, Ph.D., senior researcher, Fire Research Program, National Research Council of Canada; Environmental issues inside the exit enclosure, presented by Michael J. Ferreira, P.E., Senior Fire Protection Engineer, Hughes Associates, Inc.; Design issues within the exit enclosure, presented by Jake Pauls, CPE, Jake Pauls Consulting Services; Alternatives: elevators for egress, presented by Richard W. Bukowski, P.E., FSFPE, Senior Engineer, Building and Fire Research Laboratory, NIST; Alternatives: escape devices, presented by Antony Wood, RIBA Executive Director, Council on Tall Buildings and the Urban Habitat (CTBUH) and Visiting Associate Professor, Illinois Institute of Technology.