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So the calculation for occupant load for classrooms, etc., uses an occupant load factor that is a net factor.
How do we calculate for additional students occupying corridors outside classrooms while classes are in session? Posted anonymously by a member for discussion. Discuss this | Subscribe
7 Comments
PETE
2/21/2019 11:55:49 am
From NFPA Fire Protection Handbook Section 4, Occupant Load: "Occupant load, or the number of people to be expected in a building or an area within a building at any time for whom exits must be provided, is determined by the actual anticipated occupant load but not less than that number obtained by dividing the gross area of the story or the net area of a specific portion of the building by the area in ft^2 projected for each person." That projected area for each person is the occupant load factor, and it should be divided into the net, say class room, area that correlates with that load factor. The quotients from all net occupied areas are summed to determine the Occupant load for that floor. In your case, if you wanted to account for people waiting to get into classes before the lecture period, you would apply a safety factor to that sum. But, before doing so I would consider whether that condition applies to the normal state of occupancy for the premises. I would suspect that it does not.
PETE
2/21/2019 12:00:17 pm
Consider a single story elementary or high school. All of the students enter the corridors between classes, but they all end up in classrooms (or smoking cigarettes in the bathroom) when the next lecture session begins. The occupant load doesn't change for the floor throughout the day.
Brian Gerdwagen FPE
2/21/2019 01:40:39 pm
I use the business factor of 100 sqft/person. Bathrooms, offices, circulation spaces, I use 100 for all of them.
Ron Pierce
3/7/2019 03:24:47 pm
I am juggling several hats as our university's new facilities manager, safety/risk manager, etc., but am having a conundrum of sorts. Like all universities, we get annually "graded" on space utilization-- how efficiently are we using the space we have. One of the components is Percent Capacity, which is simply a ratio of students per room capacity (i.e. desks/seats in a classroom). For some reason we have our heads stuck on this concept that we MUST use the maximum occupancy from life safety calculations, and I'm trying to tell folks that we can determine our own capacities based on optimal learning environment. But this is another topic for another venue.
Joe
3/8/2019 05:49:44 am
Hi Ron! Appreciate the question. I've summarized and posted it here for daily discussion: https://www.meyerfire.com/daily/determine-existing-classroom-occupant-load
Just Another FPE, PE
3/8/2019 03:30:20 pm
Check the definitions for net vs. gross area, these will help clarify: 5/21/2024 01:51:14 pm
Take a look in the NFPA definitions: Leave a Reply. |
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