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Search Publications by: Jason D. Averill (Fed)

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Displaying 1 - 25 of 67

Workshop on Incorporating Climate Change Data in U.S. Building Codes and Standards

March 8, 2023
Author(s)
Jason D. Averill, Therese P. McAllister, Andrew K. Persily, Scott Weaver, James Whetstone, Jiann C. Yang, Michael Kuperberg, Sumant Nigam, Alfredo Ruiz-Barradas
NIST hosted a workshop to advance the availability of climate information sought by organizations developing standards, model building codes, and voluntary certifications by convening interactions between the building codes and climate science communities.

Role of Materials Science in the Resilience of the Built Environment

December 5, 2017
Author(s)
Stephanie S. Watson, Chiara C. Ferraris, Jason D. Averill
The resilience of U.S. communities, defined as the "ability to withstand and recover rapidly from disruptive events," is directly dependent upon the ability of the built environment to maintain and support the functions upon which modern society has come

Federal Investigation of the Evacuation of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001

February 19, 2017
Author(s)
Jason D. Averill, Dennis S. Mileti, Richard D. Peacock, Erica D. Kuligowski, N Groner, Guylene Proulx, H Nelson
This paper presents the findings of the NIST World Trade Center Investigation describing the occupant evacuation of WTC 1 and WTC 2 on September 11, 2001. The egress system, including stairwells and elevators, is described along with the evacuation

Recent Developments in Building Fire Detection Technologies

February 19, 2017
Author(s)
William L. Grosshandler, Jason D. Averill, Thomas Cleary, D W. Weinert
Sensing technologies and their application to detecting fires in buildings continue to evolve, and recent advances are summarized in this article. Work being conducted at NIST on characterizing smoke and on bench-scale evaluation of multi-element detectors

Smoke Toxicity Data for Fire Hazard and Risk Assessment of Cable Products

February 19, 2017
Author(s)
Richard Gann, Richard D. Peacock, Jason D. Averill, Marc R. Nyden
This report presents the methodology for and results from a series of room-scale fire tests to produce data on the yields of toxic products in both pre-flashover and post-flashover fires. Trays of common household electric cable burned in a room with a

Movement on Stairs During Building Evacuations

September 25, 2014
Author(s)
Erica D. Kuligowski, Richard Peacock, Paul A. Reneke, Emily A. Wiess, Jason D. Averill, Robert Hagwood, Enrico Ronchi, Bryan Hoskins, Michael Spearpoint
The time that it takes an occupant population to reach safety when descending a stairwell during building evacuations is typically described by measureable engineering variables such as stairwell geometry, speed, density, and pre-evacuation delay. In turn

Reducing the Risk of Fire in Buildings and Communities

January 1, 2014
Author(s)
Anthony Hamins, Jason D. Averill, Nelson P. Bryner, David Butry, Richard Gann, Rick D. Davis, Daniel M. Madrzykowski, Alexander Maranghides, Jiann C. Yang, Matthew Bundy, Samuel Manzello, Jeffrey W. Gilman, Francine K. Amon, William E. Mell
Fire costs and losses are a significant life safety and economic burden on society comprising about two percent of the United States gross domestic product. This paper presents the results of a roadmap developed by the National Institute of Standards and

Report on High-Rise Fireground Field Experiments

April 10, 2013
Author(s)
Jason D. Averill, Lori Moore-Merrell, Raymond T. Ranellone Jr., Craig G. Weinschenk, Nicole Taylor, Randy Goldstein, Robert Santos, Doug Wissoker, Kathy Notarianni, Kathryn Butler
In order to balance community expectations with limited resources, the fire service and community leaders require scientific data that quantifies the effects of changes in fire service deployment on the safety of the public and firefighters. This report

Delivering Building Intelligence to First Responders

February 27, 2013
Author(s)
David G. Holmberg, Michelle A. Raymond, Jason D. Averill
Presently, there is no integrated solution for delivering building systems data into the hands of emergency responders. A standard building data delivery solution will integrate the capacity of the building fire safety systems with the capabilities of the

Analysis of Egress From the World Trade Center Towers on September 11, 2001

January 31, 2013
Author(s)
Richard D. Peacock, Jason D. Averill, Erica D. Kuligowski
This paper provides an analysis of the evacuation of the World Trade Center towers culled from telephone and face-to-face interviews with survivors. A decedent analysis explores where occupants were located when each tower was attacked. Multiple regression

Modeling the Evacuation of the World Trade Center Towers on September 11, 2001

January 31, 2013
Author(s)
Erica D. Kuligowski, Richard D. Peacock, Jason D. Averill
This paper provides an analysis of the evacuation of the World Trade Center towers culled from telephone and face-to-face interviews with survivors. A decedent analysis explores where occupants were located when each tower was attacked. Multiple regression

Overview of the Structural Design of World Trade Center 1, 2, and 7

September 1, 2012
Author(s)
Therese P. McAllister, Fahim Sadek, John L. Gross, Jason D. Averill, Richard G. Gann
This paper summarizes the primary structural systems which comprised World Trade Center 1, World Trade Center 2, and World Trade Center 7. The buildings were destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This paper describes the four major

Building Occupant Safety Research 2012

May 17, 2012
Author(s)
Richard D. Peacock, Erica D. Kuligowski, Jason D. Averill
Historically, building egress systems have evolved in response to specific large loss incidents. Currently, systems are designed around a concept of providing stair capacity for the largest occupant load floor in the building with little or no

Strategic Roadmap for Fire Risk Reduction in Buildings and Communities

April 18, 2012
Author(s)
Anthony P. Hamins, Jason D. Averill, Richard G. Gann, Nelson P. Bryner, Rick D. Davis, David T. Butry, Alexander Maranghides, Jiann C. Yang, Daniel M. Madrzykowski, Matthew F. Bundy, Samuel L. Manzello, Jeffrey W. Gilman, Francine K. Amon, William E. Mell
The burden of fire on the U.S. economy continues to be large, comprising approximately $280 billion annually, or 2 percent of GDP. Over the last 30 years, civilian fire deaths and injuries have decreased due to the efforts of many people and organizations

Letter to the Editor of the CTBUH Journal

December 1, 2011
Author(s)
Sivaraj Shyam-Sunder, Jason D. Averill, Fahim Sadek
NIST was invited to comment on the articles written for a special issue of the CTBUH Journal, marking the ten years passed since the 2001 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. This letter to the editor reacts to the role of the NIST WTC Investigation

Report on Residential Fireground Field Experiments

November 7, 2011
Author(s)
Jason D. Averill, Lori Moore-Merrell, Adam M. Barowy, Robert Santos, Richard D. Peacock, Kathy Notarianni, Doug Wissoker
Service expectations placed on the fire service, including Emergency Medical Services (EMS), response to natural disasters, hazardous materials incidents, and acts of terrorism, have steadily increased. However, local decision-makers are challenged to

Performance of New and Aged Residential Fire Sprinklers

August 31, 2011
Author(s)
Anthony D. Putorti Jr., William F. Guthrie, Jason D. Averill, Richard G. Gann
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) initiated a program to determine the effects of emissions from problem drywall on residential electrical, gas distribution, and fire safety components. As part of this program, the National Institute of

Five Grand Challenges in Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics

June 6, 2011
Author(s)
Jason D. Averill
This paper identifies five grand challenges in the multidisciplinary field of pedestrian and evacuation dynamics (PED). In order to maximize the ef-fectiveness of limited resources, the PED community would benefit greatly from a prioritized, consensus

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL FIRE SERVICE DATA SUMMIT

May 9, 2011
Author(s)
Jason D. Averill, Lori Moore-Merrell, Kathy Notarianni, Robert Santos, Doug Wissoker
Effectively managing a fire department requires an understanding of and an ability to demonstrate how changes to resources will affect community outcomes. It is imperative that fire department leaders, as well as political decision makers, know how fire

After the Alarm Sounds: How We Got Here, Where We Are, and Where We Should Go

April 1, 2011
Author(s)
Jason D. Averill, Erica D. Kuligowski, Richard D. Peacock
This article reviews the history of egress design and code requirements in the United States, describes the current state-of-the-art in egress design and modeling, and offers a strawman research agenda for future egress research.

Performance of New and Aged Residential Fire Smoke Detectors

April 1, 2011
Author(s)
Jason D. Averill, Richard G. Gann, William F. Guthrie, Daniel Murphy
As part of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) technical staff program to determine the effects of emissions from imported drywall on residential electrical, gas distribution, and fire safety components, the National Institute of Standards and

Fire Effluent Component Yields from Room-scale Fire Tests

October 1, 2010
Author(s)
Richard G. Gann, Jason D. Averill, Erik L. Johnsson, Marc R. Nyden, Richard D. Peacock
Estimation of the time available for escape (ASET) in the event of a fire is a principal component in fire hazard or risk assessment. Valid data on the yields of toxic smoke components from bench-scale apparatus is essential to accurate ASET calculations

Community Risk Assessment Modeling: Results of Residential Fireground Field Experiments

July 7, 2010
Author(s)
Adam M. Barowy, Kathy Notarianni, Jason D. Averill, Lori Moore-Merrell, Robert Santos
This paper presents an overview of a large multi-year, multi-partner research study on Firefighter Safety and Deployment of Resources as well as specific results from more than 60 laboratory and residential fireground experiments designed to quantify the