A qualitative investigation on double-skin façade fires

Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Abstract

Fire hazard of the green architectural feature double-skin façade is always a concern. A hazard scenario with a room fire adjacent to the façade was identified earlier after interviewing with fire professionals. Experimental studies on the consequence of the fire hazard due to trapping heat and mass in the façade cavity carried out before will be reported in this presentation. The rig was of height 15 m with a fire chamber placed next to it. Flashover was induced to direct hot flame and smoke out. Only part of the building was studied instead of a full height façade due to resource limitations. Air temperature next to the upper interior glass pane was confirmed to be higher than the air temperature next to the exterior pane with normal air cavity depth in double-skin façades. Flame will then be diverted to the interior glass pane, giving possibility to spread fire to the upper rooms.