5. FIRE
Mass timber stands out among structural materials for commercial buildings due to its many advantages, including sustainability and aesthetic appeal. However, when left exposed, it introduces new considerations for fire safety design. Unlike traditional materials, mass timber changes the fundamental assumption that the structure itself will not contribute to the fuel load in the event of a fire. FOCUS This chapter focuses on how the use of mass timber impacts fire safety requirements, the additional hazards that a combustible frame introduces and how these can be addressed. This chapter will set out the following: – The goals and objectives that may form part of a fire safety design, including the minimum statutory goal of life safety and how fulfilling this goal may contribute to property protection and business continuity goals. – An overview of the burning of wood and its implications on the fire hazards within a building. – A set of proposed principles that can be adopted by designers to demonstrate the adequacy of the fire safety design in a commercial timber building. – Discussion on the anticipated implications of these principles in the fire safety design of a commercial building, and on the potential benefits for property protection and business continuity by addressing the proposed fire principles. KEY THEMES – Compliance, Stakeholder Goals and Fire Safety Objectives – Alternative Fire Engineering Approaches and the Qualitative Design Review – Thermal response of engineered timber, self-extinguishment of flaming combustion, smouldering, heat-induced delamination
– Fire hazards induced by the presence of mass timber – Principles to Demonstrate Adequacy of Fire Safety Design
CONCLUSIONS This chapter offers detailed and comprehensive guidance about the use of mass timber and its impact on fire safety requirements and design. The following fire principles will need to be considered to demonstrate the adequacy of the fire safety design in a commercial timber building.
– Comprehensive fire strategy – Adequate risk to health and safety
– Expected performance of structure and compartmentation – Survival of burnout with encapsulated mass timber – Survival of burnout with exposed mass timber – Sensitivity/consequence analysis – Smouldering combustion
– Assumed redundancies for life safety design – Impact on escape from area of fire origin – Mitigating internal (vertical) and external fire spread – Mitigating internal (horizontal) fire spread
Mass timber commercial buildings that follow the fire principles will be designed to withstand a reasonable worst-case fire scenario (e.g. subject to an uncontrolled fire), which will typically be conservative and add significant robustness regarding property protection and business disruption.
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