Two years in the making, Performance-Based Structural Fire Design—to date the most in-depth guidance in the U.S. for the “proper execution and potential benefits of structural fire protection”—is available free-of-charge for download. The publication, released Oct. 6, includes examples of four existing structural steel frames analyzed by four different structural engineers, using PBSFD.
The purpose of the 268-page publication, created by a collaboration of 40 engineers, is to “showcase structural fire engineering as an emerging technology in the U.S. that can benefit public safety and deliver more efficient and economical buildings,” says Kevin LaMalva, principal fire consultant for Warringtonfire and principal investigator for the initiative, a project of the Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Charles Pankow Foundation, which provided a $230,000 grant.