A Review of Building Evacuation Models - NIST Virtual Library

Use of fire data: The model can accept such user input as the start time of the fire, the area of
origin, and the fire spread rate. Or, data can be imported from FAST. The fire spread is
calculated and simulated for every time frame. Also, occupant decisions, such as opening or
closing a door, affect fire and smoke spread throughout the building.
Import CAD drawings: A CAD-based version of BGRAF is in development. Currently, the
user can sketch out the building geometry using the interactive interface of the model.
Visualization capabilities: It seems like this is an option because of the mention of an
interactive simulation and high resolution output graphics.
Validation studies: A validation attempt was performed on BGRAF with the use of data from a
Nursing home fire. Although 91 occupants were on the fire floor, the developers obtained only
22 occupants from which they gained information. These 22 occupants also were not able to
supply exit times, so the validation was focused on behavioral activities and decisions. From the
10 runs performed on the nursing home, the model identified the correct proportions of occupant
activities 80 % of the time with a 5 % level of significance.
Special features:
Fire conditions affect behavior Yes, fire conditions are input by the user or from FAST
Defining groups – Yes, the preference level can be assigned by occupant group.
Disabilities/slow occupant groups – Yes, the walking speed depends on the physical status of the
occupant (ambulatory versus disabled).
Delays/pre-movement time – Yes, the model accounts for behaviors occurring before exiting the
building.
Toxicity of the occupants – Yes, per specified smoke tolerance factor, similar to BFIRES.
Route choice of the occupants/occupant distribution – Route choice is dependant upon occupant
characteristics and environmental conditions.
Limitations: No mention of processing time or capacity of model.
A-86