HPAC Engineering

Minimum Smoke-Layer Depth in Atrium Smoke Control 

Mar 1, 2009, By JOHN H. KLOTE, DSC, PE Consultant Leesburg, Va.

Minimum smoke-layer depth, including the reason for the 20-percent requirement, engineering analyses, and design approaches...

State-of-the-Art Atrium Smoke Control 

Dec 1, 2008, By JOHN H. KLOTE, DSc, PE John H. Klote Inc. Leesburg, Va.

Unlike other building systems, it is virtually impossible to test an atrium smoke-control system to design conditions. This primarily is because design...

Commissioning Life-Safety Systems 

Nov 1, 2008, By MARK A. LEAFSTEDT, PE, CCP, CxA TestMarcx Commissioning Solutions Las Vegas, Nev.

The process of commissioning a life-safety system is very similar to that of commissioning an HVAC system; however, the stakes essentially, death vs....

Smoke Control and Fire Evacuation 

Jul 1, 2008, By JOHN H. KLOTE, DSc, PE John H. Klote Inc.Leesburg, Va.

It is important that professionals involved with smoke control know about the myth of panic. Movies, television, and the press often present an unrealistic...

Fire Safety First 

Apr 1, 2008, Edward Liwerant

I was called to design a replacement domestic-water booster-pump system for a 30-story sprinklered office building. A field survey revealed that the domestic-water...

The True Story 

Feb 1, 2008, John Cole, PE J.C. Consulting New York, N.Y.

During the first morning meeting of the day, several supervisors suddenly jumped up and ran out with their pagers in hand. Five fully manned Fire Department...

Fire- and Smoke-Damper Control 

Jan 1, 2008, By LARRY FELKER Belimo Americas Sparks, Nev.

The No. 1 question about fire and smoke dampers that mechanical engineers and contractors ask is, How do the controls work with the actuators? This article...