Use of Elevators during Emergencies

摘要

This presentation summarizes the initiatives taken in North America to address the use of elevators during emergencies by firefighters and for occupant evacuation. Two task groups, established by ASME, and chaired by the author, studied the issues and developed recommendations for the Elevator Code, Building Codes and other related codes to address these issues. A new operation, called "Occupant Evacuation Operation" is included in the A17.1/B44 elevator code in 2013. New requirements have been added to the building codes to protect elevator systems from water, fire and smoke and provide protected power supplies, protected lobbies and new communications features to aid occupant self-evacuation.