Citation

Forrest B, Weckman E, DiDomizio M, Senez P, Ryder N. Fire Mater. 2021; 45(8): 1063-1074.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/fam.2860

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Modern energy efficient homes in Canada are well-sealed, having less air leakage and moisture propagation through the building envelope compared with older homes. From a fire safety perspective, it is unclear how this change influences the dynamics of house fires, including: heat release rate, flame spread, species production and smoke transport. Although previous studies have determined that better sealed structures tend to lead to ventilation-limited fires, there is a dearth of research on this topic. Yet, it is important to understand the evolution of fires in energy efficient buildings to assess both physical and safety implications associated with this type of construction. This article presents results of species concentrations and smoke evolution during nine instrumented, large-scale, ventilation-limited and two-storey residential furniture fire experiments. As the smoke layer descended, it impacted heat release rate of the fires. Oxygen concentrations on the main floor of the structure sequentially decreased to around 5%. Measurements of gas transport at the stairwell connecting the floors of the structure provided new information about how oxygen was drawn from different areas of the structure during growth of the fire. These results provide novel insight into the growth and impact of fires in modern energy efficient homes.

Language: en

Keywords

furniture fires; gaseous measurements; multi-compartment; multi-storey; smoke movement; ventilation-limited