Une étude intitulée « Survey of Occupant Load Densities in Retail Buildings » vient d’être publiée. L’étude a été cofinancée par la Fondation SFPE. Les résultats sont pertinents pour la Suisse, d’autant plus que l’étude a également été rédigée par un ressortissant Suisse.
Principal Investigator:
Gianluca DeSanctis, EBP Schweiz AG, Switzerland
Coordination:
espace.mobilité
SFPE Foundation
The Research Problem:
Occupant load is a critical factor in egress analyses for fire safety systems. Codified values for occupant loads for many occupancies are estimates which frequently do not reflect actual conditions. More realistic data from occupant load studies is available, however it is derived by varying types of people counting systems. Further, a full statistical analysis of the data, taking into account its variability, is often not undertaken and reported. For retail buildings in particular, the variability of the occupant load can provide important design information.
The research study had three components:
An in depth assessment of currently available people counting systems, identifying strengths and weaknesses.
A review of occupant loads in actual fire incidents in retail buildings to assess optimum measurement intervals and statistical analyses.
An in depth statistical analysis of occupant data in Swiss retail stores, exploring the impact of occupancy detailed type, building configuration and location.
