Study on Estimation Method of Optimum Phased Evacuation Plan in a High-rise Building

Abstract

There have been the growing number of high-rise buildings all over the world in the past few decades. In these high-rise buildings, one of the most crucial safety issues is an evacuation in a fire, which may require total evacuation, if a fire expands to a large size. For a total evacuation, there are two types of methods such as “simultaneous evacuation” and “phased evacuation”. In this study, first, the authors conducted the two questionnaire surveys regarding a total evacuation to building managers and also participants of a fire drill in high-rise buildings. From the results, it was found that the phased evacuation is more preferable compared with simultaneous evacuation. Second, the authors developed a method to estimate an optimum evacuation plan for phased evacuation in a high-rise building. This method can immediately output the waiting-time and floors to evacuate per phase by inputting values such as a fire floor, the number of evacuees on each floor in a particular fire scenario, and so forth. This method is useful not only for mitigating congestion inside stairs, but also for preferential evacuation for evacuees near a fire floor that has a higher fire risk. In addition, this method has a function to shorten the completion time of a total evacuation.