Fire safety
Mannvit provides fire safety consulting to architects, contractors and real estate companies and conducts fire-safety evaluations of buildings, particularly in connection with the renovation of older buildings, ensuring code compliance with all current laws and regulations along with performance-based design.
There are many facets to consider in fire safety design. Examples include, flammability characteristics of building materials, sectioning of buildings into fire and smoke zones, escape routes, structural heat tolerances, predicting fire spread, fire warning systems and fire extinguishing equipment.
Our fire safety engineers provide evaluations for building and planning, as well as in connection with industry, industrial processes and transportation, applying their experience and expertise to diverse and challenging projects.
Passive fire protection
Mannvit assists architects and contractors in designing efficient buildings with regard to fire safety using passive fire protection tactics. This includes compartmentalization of the overall building through the use of fire-resistance rated walls, doors and floors, planning of adequate exit routes, ensuring minimum structural integrity against fire and more. etc.
Active fire protection
Active fire protection elements react once a fire has started. Mannvit offers assistance in planning and designing necessary active protection systems, including fire detection and alarm systems, smoke ventilation, sprinkler system design and more.
Fire detection and fire alarm systems
Early fire detection and fire alarms is of crucial importance to limit the consequences of a fire, especially regarding the safety of occupants and property protection. The choice of a fire detection system and fire alarms depends on the potential fire source, structure, purpose and use of a building. In public buildings with large crowds, the fire alarm can be completed by emergency voice alarm system, emergency lighting systems and proper EXIT light systems to guide the public quickly to nearest exit. Mannvit can determine the most suitable detection and alarm system for each particular building.
Fire suppression
Mannvit has a team of experienced sprinkler system designers. Installing an automatic fire sprinkler system is a very efficient way to suppress or control a fire. The choice of sprinkler system depends on the potential type and size of fire source or particular requirements. For example, protecting transformers in heavy industry might require a deluge system involving a large amount of suppression water. On the other hand, gas inerting system is suitable for places such as in a museum, where valuable goods may be seriously damaged by water or other extinguishing medium. Mannvit can also identify the suitable type and location of portable extinguishers for efficient early fire-fighting actions.
Escape route planning
Mannvit defines evacuation procedures and designs evacuation routes according to building codes and regulations (ex: NFPA, European standards) but also by means of evacuation modeling software. Modeling evacuation takes into account building characteristics and number of occupants as well as layout of the building. Evacuation modeling can be coupled with fire and smoke simulations.
Mannvit also prepares exit route drawings and first response information in case of fire or other relevant hazard.
Fire and smoke modeling in buildings
Mannvit uses advanced techniques such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to model fire, smoke spread and heat transfer in buildings. These performance-based methods allow the design of innovative and modern complex buildings, such as shopping malls with large open-spaces and covered atriums, which introduce new risk factors concerning fire and smoke spread.
CFD simulations of smoke movements to divide a building into smoke compartments and optimize mechanical or natural ventilation systems is a very efficient and cost-effective method to develop design solutions with respect to fire safety.
Emergency and response planning
Mannvit develops emergency packages to help staff members and fire fighters take correct actions in case of fire or other emergency situations. This package, adaptable to each particular building, contains useful information such as contact lists, location of potential dangerous substances, information regarding firefighting equipment and other technical systems. It also includes plan and section drawings and any other information that might be necessary to be aware of in an emergency situation.
Code compliance
Mannvit has an extensive knowledge of international building codes, and can review new and existing layouts or carry out fire assessments of buildings to check their compliance with codes and regulations. Fire safety regulations can have a major impact on overall design of a building with regards to esthetics, function and cost. To allow more innovative and groundbreaking designs, Mannvit can suggest and develop alternative solutions using performance based methods and achieve a level of safety equivalent to or great then the levels required by the codes and approved by the authorities.
Loss of marketshare often has a bigger impact on a company‘s operation than the damage cost, caused by fire.