1998 Building & Fire Research Laboratory: activities, accomplishments & recognitions

60 Pages·1999·4.9 MB·English

by  Raufaste, Noel J.

MIST
PUBLICATIONS
&
Building
Fire
Research
Laboratory
Activities,
Accomplishments
&
Recognitions
U.S.Department
of Commerce
Technology
Administration
QC
100 National Institute
ofStandards
U57
andTechnology
10.838-15
1999
Contents
BFRL at a Glance 1
Director's Message 3
—
BFRL's Focus Ten Major Objectives
I. Computer Integrated Construction Environment 5
II. Cybernetic Building Systems 7
HI. Fire Safe Materials .10
IV. Industrial Fire Simulation 12
V. Partnership for High Performance Concrete Technology 16
VI. Performance Standards System for Housing 20
VII. Service Life ofBuilding Materials 21
VIII. Metrologyfor Sustainable Development 23
DC. Earthquake, Fire, andWind Engineering 27
X. Advanced Fire Measurements and Fire Fighting Technologies 31
NSTC Subcommittee on Construction and Building 35
Outreach 38
InternationalActivities 43
—
StaffHighlights Recognitions andAwards 49
Major Conferences, Seminars, andWorkshops 52
BFRL Finances and Organization 54
More about BFRL (Inside back Cover)
BFRL
at a Glance
What BFRL Is andDoes BFRL Vision
200 worldclass staff Leader in performance prediction
accomplishments show impact and measurement technologies; focal
unique facilities point for advances in key areas of
$28 million annual budget technology; and partnerwith
over 90 years experience; sharply customers to exploit the benefits
focused program ofthese technologies.
access to advanced technologies
BFRL Goal
mathematical modeling
high-speed instrumentation
Meet the critical measurement
non-destructive testing and
and standards infrastructure needs
diagnostics
ofthe construction and fire safety
information technologies
communities.
Getting theMost BFRLMission
from What BFRLDoes
Partnerwith its customers to
laboratory visits to share provide the measurement technolo-
information
gies, performance prediction meth-
cooperative research and problem ods, and technical advances needed
solving, access to unique resources
to enhance the competitiveness of
cooperative proprietary research U.S. industry, public safety and
to achieve customer's technology
environmental safety, and assure the
mission, with industry partner hold-
life cycle quality and economy of
ing rights to intellectual property
constructed facilities.
guest researcher assignments
for collaborative research
research consortia to solve
industry-wide problems
invention licensing

Director's Message
&
Building
Fire
Research
Laboratory
1998Activities,
Accomplishments,
andRecognitions
We ofthe Building and Fire National Construction Goals
Research Laboratory (BFRL) developed with industry by the
are pleased to present to our Subcommittee on Construction and
clients and collaborators, this report Building (C&B) ofthe President's
ofour 1998 impacts, accomplish- National Science andTechnology
ments, recognitions, and activities. Council. C&B's activities are sum-
As one ofthe National Institute of marized in this report because ofthe
Standards andTechnology's measure- substantial investment ofBFRL in
ments and standards laboratories, we leadership ofC&B and because ofits
provide performance prediction influence on our program. C&B's
methods, measurement technologies, major accomplishment in 1998 was
and technical advances needed to the President's announcement, with
assure the life cycle quality and econ- industry, ofthe Partnership for
—
omy ofconstructed facilities resi- AdvancingTechnology in Housing
dences, commercial and institutional (PATH). PATH brings together
buildings, industrial facilities, public government and industry to develop,
works, and utilities. We are enthusi- demonstrate, and deploy housing
astic about ourwork, conducted in technologies, designs, and practices
close collaborations with industry, to create homes that are stronger,
government, and academia, because more affordable, more comfortable,
ofits importance to the productivity and far more energy efficient. In
and competitiveness ofall U.S. indus- addition to the programs ofthe
try and everyone's quality oflife. individual federal agencies, C&B is
In 1998, we focused on 10 objec- working with industry to develop a
tives using multidisciplinary teams to Partnership forAdvancing Infra-
achieve the greatest practicable structure and its Renewal (PAIR),
impacts ofourwork. This report and to Streamline the Building Regu-
describes the purpose, approach, and latory System to reduce substantially
principal 1998 impacts and accom- the time and cost for achieving regu-
plishments for each objective. In latory approvals.
addition, we have continued substan- We look forward to your inquiries
tial investments in longer term and and to our continued and strength-
fundamental research to be prepared ened collaborations.
for the challenges and opportunities
Contact: Dr. Richard Wright
ofthe future. Research highlights are
Director, Building and Fire
found in the next chapter.
Research Laboratory
BFRL addresses the measurement
[phone]
and standards needed to achieve the
[email protected]
3
BFRL
The Program
BFRL's research isfocusedand linked with collaborative Service Life ofBuilding Materials
private- andpublic-sector activities to help achieve the Metrology for Sustainable
Development
National Construction Goals (NCGs) developed with
industry by the National Science and Technology Earthquake, Fire, andWind
Engineering
Council's Subcommittee on Construction and Building (C&B).
Advanced Fire Measurements and
In 1996, groups ofindustry leaders representing the residential, Fire FightingTechnologies
industrial, public works, andcommercialIinstitutional sectors
The 10 objectives comprise six major
NCGs
developed industry strategicplansfor achieving the in products plus four focused project
cooperation withfederal agencies. These industryplans and areas that address the NCGs and
industry plans. About 50 percent of
direct discussions with industry leaders helpedshape the
BFRL's direct appropriations fund
direction ofBFRL research. the first six BFRL objectives. Each is
focused on a product thatwill bring
prompt economic benefits. Objec-
BFRL's 10 Objectives Cybernetic Building Systems tives 7 through 10 are focused areas
Fire Safe Materials funded by direct appropriations and
BFRL's 1998 research program by other federal agencies. This
Industrial Fire Simulation
is sharply defined under 10 key research issmaller in scaleand
objectives: Partnership for High Performance includes projects aimed at high eco-
ConcreteTechnology
Computer-Integrated Construction nomic impact and others focused on
Environment Performance Standards System fundamental research for the next
for Housing generation oftechnologies.
BFRLprovidesmeasurement recentlydevelopedfireemulator/ ing measurementsofbubble
technologiesandperformance detectorevaluatorapparatusto growthforuseindeveloping
prediction methodsasillustrated evaluateasmokedetector'sout- computermodelsthatwillhelp
inthetwopictures.Ontheleft, putsignalandalarmfunction.On industrydesignevaporatorsfor
Mr.ThomasCleary,chemical theright,Dr.MarkA.Kedzierski, alternativerefrigerants.
engineer,isoperatingBFRL's mechanicalengineer,isperform-
Rangefromnbl3dalasel
I
LightDetectionAnd
Ranging (LIDAR) range
Computer-Integrated
mapoftheinsideofthe
Construction Environment National Construction
AutomationTestbed
Laboratory, showing
Intended Outcome. Developed 100
NISTsrobotcrane
anddemonstrated, inpartnership with TETRAthatwaslinked
U.S. industry, the effective electronic 150 - andautomatedwith
BFRL's30-tonoverhead
automation andintegration oflife- bridgecrane.Thenew
cycle workprocesses in the officeand 200 scanningtechnology
on thejob site. Particularemphasis is enablestheautomated
creationofa3D"as-
placedon capitalprojects in theprocess
250 built"digital modelof
plant industries, accountingfor $40B
thelaboratorythatcan
in new construction eachyear, with the beusedforconstruction
expectation ofreducing delivery time 300 planningand robotic
programming.
andlife-cycle costs andincreasing
quality andperformance. The BFRL 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 600 550
product will bea harmonizedset of
proven information technology stan-
dards leading to commercial implemen-
tations in softwaresystems; a NIST ConstructionMetrology Dr. William Stone, leader, and the
testbeddemonstrating the interoper- andAutomation staffofthe Construction Metrology
ability ofthe commercialsystems; andAutomation Group are develop-
assistance to industry in re-engineering The emergence ofhigh-speed ing wireless real-time metrology sys-
its workprocesses employing these stan- computer communication net- tems, integrating these systems with
dards andsystems;prototype metrology works (the information super- construction machines and field-
andautomation systems thatadvance highway) and the rapid advance of portable quality control equipment,
thestate oftheart in construction; and real-time, immersive, computer and developing the means to operate
supporting economicstudies. BFRL is graphics (virtual reality) technologies on data obtained from the field. This
activelypartnering with companies presage the ability to manage remote will make it possible for contractors
such as Merck, industry consortia such construction sites from central to obtain timely information about
asPlantSTEP, Inc., andtheInterna- offices and to automate certain por- their job site that would never before
tionalAllianceforInteroperability, and tions ofthe tasks performed on-site. have been possible. In the process,
universities such as Carnegie Mellon Limited demonstrations ofthis type BFRL is developing recommenda-
University andStanford University. oftechnology, largely relating to the tions for industry-consensus stan-
Thisproduct willbe deliveredin control ofrobotic spacecraft and, dards for the communication storage
stages, commencing in 1999 with the more pertinently, to the tele-operation and dynamic access oflive metrology
release ofthe ISOISTEP application ofsimple machines for the handling data from the construction site.
protocol onplantspatialconfiguration ofnuclearwaste, have been conduct- NIST completed a portion ofthis
andthe initiation ofa concomitant ed. The widespread use ofthis tech- new technology by establishing the
industrypilotproject, andconcluding nology by the construction industry, National Construction Automation
in 2003 with industry take-up of however, is effectively prevented by Testbed (NCAT). In one demon-
theprototype metrology andautoma- several barriers including the cost stration, a full-scale 30-ton bridge
ofthe new technologies, the lack of crane on NISTs Gaithersburg cam-
tion systems.
off-the-shelfintegrated systems, and pus was converted to robotic control.
a lack ofcompelling full-scale The data from the crane were wire-
demonstrations.
5
completed the draft International
Organization for Standardization
(ISO) Standard, ISO 10303-227:
Plant Spatial Configuration. This
standard, commonly referred to as
STEPApplication Protocol 227,
will enable the automatic exchange
ofplant engineering information,
including 3-D models ofplants and
the detailed engineering ofpiping
systems. AP 227, Plant Spatial
Configuration, was approved
unanimously by ISO as a Draft
International Standard in May 1998.
Commercial implementations of
AP 227 are expected in the begin-
ning of1999.
Additionally, Mr. Palmer and col-
This3-Dmodelofa processplantservesasabasisforBFRLtestfilesforimplementationofthe
newISOStandard,STEPAP227. leagues workedwith pdXi (Process
Data eXchange Institute ofAIChE)
to develop the Committee Draft
lessly relayed to a high-speed net- InternationalStandards (CD) of STEPAP 231 for exchang-
work and run to a remote site in forExchanging Plant ing process design information and
Washington, D.C. where Congres- Engineering Information process specifications for major
sional members and staffwere able equipment. TheAP 231 document
to remotelyoperate the crane. They Mark Palmer, research was submitted to ISO for review and
Mr.
also witnessed the events in real-time mechanical engineer, has been ballot in September 1998. The com-
by means ofa 3D site simulator, workingwith industryto bination ofthese two application
which converted the data to a graph- deliver effective data exchange stan- protocols enables broader collabora-
ical representation ofthe crane's dards to advance the international tion across process, engineering and
position. competitiveness ofU.S. engineering, manufacturing companies and across
These technologieswill beexpanded construction, process and power, and the life cycle ofprocess plants. This
in FY 1999 intheareasofnon-intrusive CAD/CAE industries. In the inter- will lead to more cost-effective and
scanning technologies (for initial national world ofprocess plant safer process plants, while advancing
assessment ofearthmoving progress) design, construction, and operation, the capabilities ofU.S. engineering
and discrete component tracking the rapid and accurate exchange of and construction companies to com-
technologies (for instantaneous technical information among own- pete globally. These standards are
"as-built!' site model generation). ers, designers, equipment suppliers, important components for thewide
Both ofthese will be demonstrated fabricators, and others is critical. application ofinformation exchange
to contractors at full scale in the Incompatible data exchange formats across the life cycle ofconstructed
comingyear. can lock corporations out ofprof- facilities in general.
Contact: Dr. William C. Stone itable national and international Contact: Mr. Mark Palmer
Structures Division process plant projects. Building Environment Division
[phone] Workingwith PlantSTEP, Inc. and [phone]
leaders from the process plant indus- [email protected]
[email protected]
tries, Mr. Palmer and colleagues
6
n
Cybernetic
Mr.Steven Bushby,
Building Systems electronics
engineer,checks
wiringconnections
Intended Outcome. Developed,
forcontrollers
tested, integrated, anddemonstrat—ed intheBACnet™
open Cybernetic BuildingSystem Virtual Building.
performedin cooperation with indus-
trialpartners, building owners and
operators, a—ndnewly developingservice
companies for improvedproductivi-
ty, lifecycle costsavings, energy conser-
vation, improvedfiresafety, improved
occupantsatisfaction, andmarket
leadership. The BFRLproduct will
beafullscaledemonstration ofa American National Standards Insti- system is fullyoperational. Phase III
CyberneticBuildingSystem delivered tute (ANSI). It has been selected as a is underway and will expand the
in agovernment ownedoffice building European Communitypre-standard BACnet™ system to a new central
complex in 2002. by the European Committee for plant facilityand connect the control
Standardization. Today, there are system in this buildingwith other
over 4,000 installed systems running GSA buildings in Region 9 using
BACnet™ Expansion BACnet™ in at least 14 countries. BACnet™ overan Internet Protocol.
In 1996, the largest federal build- This will provide centralized access
BACnet™ is astandard commu- ing west ofthe Mississippi River to energyconsumption and system
nications protocol for building (132,000 m2), in San Francisco, performance data, and prepare GSA
automation and control systems was selected by the General Services for aggregating utilityloads in a
developed by BFRLwith a number Administration (GSA) for the first deregulated marketplace.
ofindustrypartners under the aus- large-scale demonstration of VisualTest Shell (VTS) is a BFRL
pices oftheAmerican Society of BACnet™ among multiplevendors. developed software tool for testing
Heating, Refrigerating, andAir- Mr. Steven Bushby, electronics building control products for confor-
Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). engineer, and colleagues provided mance to the BACnet™ standard.
BACnet™ provides a standard com- technical assistance to GSA includ- A revisedversion ofthis tool, which
ing technical review ofthe control runs in aWindows95 orWindowsNT
munications infrastructure through
which building automation and con- system design and specifications, environment, was released in 1998.
trol devices made by different manu- laboratory testing ofthe BACnet™ Development ofthe testing tool will
facturers can be interconnected. This capabilities ofthe products to be continue in parallelwith anASHRAE
makes it possible for building own- used in the building, and on-site addendum to the standardthat defines
ers, including government agencies, commissioning support. Mr. Bushby conformance testing procedures for
to obtain competitive upgrades to and his colleagues also have been col- BACnet™.
building control systems. In addition, lecting and analyzing network traffic BACnet™ work is expanding
BACnet™ makes possible the inte- data to document how BACnet™ beyond the HVAC realm. BFRL is
gration ofbuilding systems that performs in large control systems. working with the National Electrical
currentlystand alone. InJune 1995, Phase II ofthe project, retrofit ofthe Manufacturers Association and the
BACnet™ was approved as an control systems for the air handling National Fire Protection Association
ASHRAE standard and, later, as an units and over 1,300 VAV box con- to extend BACnet™ to fire protec-
American national standard by the trollers, was completed in 1998 and tion products. The first commercial
the multivendor BACnet™ control BACnet™ fire system products were
"
introduced in 1998. New features advance the effectiveness offire sys- encounter. Researchers from the Fire
are being added to the protocol that tems ofthe future. Such systems will Safety Engineering Division have
will enhance the use ofBACnet™ be integrated with other building conducted two focus groups in con-
in life-safety systems. For example, systems through the BACnet™ junction with the InternationalAsso-
some day "smart elevators" may be interface. Theywill provide active ciation ofFire Chiefs to determine
able to tap into control systems so, surveillance ofall building features what theywant to know, when they
ifthere is a fire, elevators can be used related to emergency functions to want to know it, and how to display
to help evacuate people in a safe and assure that theywill operate as information so it is easily under-
efficient manner. This is an example intended when needed. Thus, very standable for making quickdecisions.
ofindustry's involvement and partic- high reliabilitywill be achieved and The results ofthese sessions are being
ipation in the BACnet™ program reductions in the current high costs used to develop prototype displays
that will lead to safer, more econom- ofpreventive maintenance, typically that will be tested further by the
ical applications ofautomation in seven percent ofthe total mainte- Phoenix, Nashville, andAtlanta Fire
building systems. nance costs ofbuildings, will defray Departments. The National Fire
Contact: Mr. Steven Bushby the increased cost ofthe advanced ProtectionAssociation (NFPAs)
systems. National FireAlarm CodeTechnical
Building Environment Division
[phone] The systems also will use Fire Safe- Correlating Committee established a
ty Engineering Division advanced Task Group to develop the standard
[email protected]
fire models as a means to provide for this interface, and NEMA's
detailed data to the fire service that Signaling Division is providing
StandardInterfacefor will enhance firefighter safety and cooperation and funding for this and
AdvancedFireAlarm Systems improve operational effectiveness. several related tasks in this effort. All
One keyaspect ofthis system is an the major fire alarm manufacturers
Richard Bukowski, research improved fire service interface that agreed to design and market prod-
Mr.
engineer, and staffofthe Fire will be standardized across the indus- ucts that will feature this interface.
Safety Systems Group are try. This standard has been sought by Contact: Mr. Richard Bukowski
workingwith the National Electrical fire departments to eliminate the Fire Safety Engineering Division
ManufacturersAssociation (NEMA) current confusion with different
[phone]
and the fire alarm industry to interfaces on every system they [email protected]
Fire Detection Calibrator
Comes on Line
M
The Fire Science Division is pro-
viding the measurement technol-
:
ogy for the future offire detec-
—— tion. Current smoke detectors pro-
—
'
vide a go/no-go signal in the pres-
i
V l\A ence offire-generated particles.
i
Unfortunately, similar aerosols are
produced from other sources such as
cooking and condensing shower
steam. In residences, these nuisance
alarms often lead householders
Keytoastandardizeddisplayforfirealarmsystemsisasetof to disregard real fire signals and
visualsymbolsforimportantsystemcomponentsandfireevents.