![]() Earn NAHB’s Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) designation and become the expert in your market. Click here to start this process.Get the technical, business management and customer service skills essential to competing in the fastest-growing segment of the residential remodeling industry: home modifications for the aging-in-place market. This approach was specific to the variance associated with this atrium protection.īecause the use of window sprinklers to achieve a fire-resistance rating is not a prescriptively compliant approach in Massachusetts, a variance application was submitted and accepted to confirm this approach with the authority having jurisdiction as providing an equivalent level of fire protection and life safety intended by the code.ĭo you have experience and expertise with the topics mentioned in this content? You should consider contributing to our CFE Media editorial team and getting the recognition you and your company deserve. Having no occupiable walkways mean that there does not exist the reasonable threat of a fire on the atrium side to the glass, which would have already been mitigated by the window sprinklers on the lowest level. On higher levels, the window sprinklers only had to wet the entire surface of the lab (nonatrium) side of the glass, as there were no occupiable walkways on the atrium side. On the ground level, window sprinklers were designed to wet both sides of the glass surface. The two-hour fire-resistance rating of these sprinklers provided a sufficient fire-resistance rating to separate adjacent control areas, and exceed the minimum required one-hour fire-resistance rated atrium separation. Separation between control areas does not allow for the same sprinkler alternative that is accepted for atrium separations with closely spaced sprinklers.Īs such, the window sprinklers that provide a listed two-hour fire-resistance rating were used instead. However, it is not correct to use the same rules from IBC Section 404.6, Exception 1 because the control area separation requirement is more stringent than the atrium separation. The glass paneling makes up the boundary between atrium and nonatrium spaces. Though it is an eye-catching design, it obviously presents issues when it comes to compartmentalization and separation. Practically the entire boundary between these two spaces consisted of glass paneling. Lastly, the most complex part of the design was the boundary between the atrium and the lab spaces. Though the design and installation requirements for these closely spaces sprinklers are quite rigid, it was determined that this was the significantly more cost-effective and aesthetically desirable than the use of rated glass partitions. ![]() These sprinklers are installed within 4 to 12 inches of the glass they are protecting. The glass doors along the boundary were specified to be self-closing and gypsum soffits were provided along the glass boundary so that concealed pendent sprinklers could be spaced every 6 feet along the boundary. The remainder of the separation between the spaces was provided by the standard fire-resistance rated fire barriers, with no need for additional protection by the automatic sprinkler system.įor the separation between nonatrium and atrium regions encompassed within control area 1, the closely spaced sprinkler rule detailed by International Building Code Section 404.6, Exception 1 was applied. The glass doors were required to be made of rated glass because window sprinklers cannot be used for operable openings. The boundary between these two spaces did not consist of any glass paneling with the exception of a few glass doors. The most basic part of the design for this space was the fire-resistance rated separation between control areas 2 and 3. It was determined early in the building design that the use of sprinklers would be used where possible in lieu of common passive fire protection measures to achieve the required fire resistance ratings. ![]() The presence of an atrium and multiple control areas in the building, compounded by the vast amount of glass paneling, made this a complex situation from a life safety and fire protection standpoint. ![]()
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