Page 28 - College Planning & Management, June 2019

Facilities CAMPUS SPACES
Residence Halls and Emergency Evacuation
It’s both big things and little things that come together to ensure student
safety when evacuating a residence hall in an emergency. Here are three
things to take into account.
BY ELLEN KOLLIE
ONE OF THE ELEMENTS of safe residence hall design is proper building evacuation. When someone enters
a building, eventually they need to exit, sometimes
quickly in the case of an emergency. Building codes, products, and emergency evacuation plans all play important roles in protecting the health, welfare, and safety of residence hall occupants when an emergency evacuation is necessary.
Meeting Code in Building Design
The International Building Code (IBC) was first published in 1997 by International Code Council (ICC). According to ICC, which updates IBC every three years, “It is an essential tool to preserve public health and safety that provides safeguards from hazards associated with the built environment. It addresses design and
installation of innovative materials that meet or exceed public health and safety goals (www.iccsafe.org/products-and-services/i- codes/2018-i-codes/ibc).” ICC notes that the document is so impor- tant that it is common for jurisdictions to adopt and then “amend the code in the process to reflect local practices and laws.”
IBC is one tool in building design. The other is the community required to interpret and apply code in the design process. “The safe design of a building is an integrated process that involves many specialists, architects, and engineers from multiple disciplines, including fire protection, security design systems, evacuation alarm systems, and structural,” observes Javier Esteban, AIA, principal
at KWK Architects, a St. Louis-based architectural firm focusing on higher education. “All work together toward a common goal of protecting life first and property second.”
28 COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT / JUNE 2019
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