Web Exclusive Feature! Performance-Based Design: From Local Needs to Global Needs
Around the world, prescriptive building codes and fire safety standards are increasingly being replaced or supplemented by performance-based standards that promise to provide increased design flexibility, lower costs, improved safety, and even enhanced global trade. In the U.S., performance-based design is slowly gaining a foothold. Factory Mutual Research has a long tradition of research into fundamental fire and structural performance issues. In this article, we will attempt to provide an overview of the complex issues surrounding performance-based design and fire safety.
As you stand on the Brooklyn Bridge at dawn and look out on the city, the first light of day catches the Empire State Building, then the gleaming Chrysler Building. As the sun rises further, its rays lead your eye down the boulevard, stopping at one architectural and cultural marvel after another. On your right stands a 36-story pyramid with a sphinx guarding the entrance. On your left, there's the Doges' Palace, the Rialto Bridge and St. Mark's Basilica. Across the street, the Eiffel Tower begins to glint above the Arc de Triomphe. The Eiffel Tower? Yes, you guessed it; this is Las Vegas, NV, a living monument to American fantasy, ingenuity and excess. It's also a prime example of performance-based design in action.