An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Measurement and Standards Laboratories, Fiscal Year 1998 (1998) / Chapter Skim
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7 Building and Fire Research Laboratory
7 Building and Fire Research Laboratory
Pages 149-178
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Chapfer 7
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Anderson, and its Vice Chair, Rose A Ryntz, this assessment of the fiscal year 1998 activities of the Building and Fire Research Laboratory is based on site visits by individual panel members, a formal meeting of the pane]
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Partnership for High-Performance Concrete Technolo~v (PHPCTi. Service Life of Building Materials, A - A ~- ~ )
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was pleased to see that, among the objectives that have been identified within the last year, the laborato~y's objectives include work on sustainable development and service life prediction, as well as the structural engineering and fire science programs from the traditional areas covered by the BFRL. The emerging strategic plan is well constructed and solidly in alignment with the laboratory and NIST missions.
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Since the BFRL has only recently reorganized, this assessment was conducted by research area, which reflects the previous structure of the laboratory and is consistent with last year's report. At that time, there were six research areas: High-Performance Materials and Systems, Mechanical and Environmental Systems, Automation and Information, Structural Engineering, Fire Science and Fire Safety Engineering, and Performance-Based Standards and Economics.
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In the area of High-Performance Materials and Systems for constructed facilities, the laboratory continues to stretch its performance by utilizing its expertise and association with industrial sponsors, with industry trade and standard committees, and with academia to bench mark NIST capabilities against the state of the art. Characterization of industrial needs is 154
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An example of the last technique can be seen in the planned dissemination of the software for the determination of wind loads in accordance with the latest design recommendations. Within fire safety and fire science engineering, staff are actively engaged in developing advanced measurement systems to better understand fire test results; increased understanding will in turn produce better predictions of the response of designs to a range of fire situations.
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Laboratory Resources Funding sources3 for the Building and Fire Research Laboratory (in millions of dollars) are as follows: Fiscal Year 1997 Fiscal Year 1998 (estimated)
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The ongoing programs in earthquake engineering are in need of both leadership and vision, and the current human resources devoted to this area do not appear to be adequate to cover the many important projects under way. Furthermore' the laborato~y~s preeminence in wind engineering is centered around a single MIST Fellow, so management attention is needed for succession planning.
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_ Subtotals for major products T 7.S 1 0.3 1 0.0 1 8.l 1 45 Service Life of Building Materials 0.9 I.5 0.0 2.4 15 Metrology for Sustainable Development 2.8 3. ~0.3 6.2 32 Earthquake, Fire, and Wind Engineering 2.0 0.9 0.0 2.9 12 Advanced Fire Measurements and 4.4 4.7 0.
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The individual assessments below are divided into these research areas, but as this structure is no longer used by the laboratory, the budget and personnel information in these reports is all for fiscal year 1997. ~:igh-Performance Materials and Systems for Constructed Facilities Work in this area is mainly conducted in the Building Materials Division, but some projects also are located in the Structures and Fire Science Divisions.
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world class, as bench marked against programs at other technical institutions and industrial laboratories. The various projects outlined below describe key deliverables being undertaken to accomplish desired goals.
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Coating Service Life Prediction continues to be an important program, and the focus on measurement techniques is unique to NIST. The focus is on implementation of test methods to understand the behavior of coatings in the field, e.g., under normal weathering conditions.
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However, the panel was slightly concerned to learn that the Coatings Service Life Prediction project currently receives over 50 percent of its funding from outside agencies. This program is of great value to industry through its definition of key test methods that predict degradation mechanisms within materials.
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Technical Merit and Appropriateness of Work The work on Mechanical and Environmental Systems takes place in four groups: Thermal Machinery, Indoor Air Quality and Ventilation, Mechanical Systems and Controls, and Heat Transfer. A discussion of the work done in each group follows.
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Understanding the process leads to improved performance in the form of lower energy consumption; this in turn results in lower carbon dioxide emissions at power plants. The Indoor Air Quality and Ventilation Group participates in one of the laboratory's key objectives, Metrology for Sustainable Development.
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, Virtual Cybernetic Building Systems, Advanced Fire Detection and Alarm Panels, Multi-Function Building Environment Sensors, and others. These various components are under development by groups around the world.
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are presented below: Fiscal Year 1997 NIST-STRS, 4.9 excluding Competence ATP 0.1 OA/NFG/CRADA 2.2 Total 7.2 In fiscal year 1997, staffing for the work in Mechanical and Environmental Systems included 21 fill-time permanent positions, of which 19 were for technical professionals. There was also one nonpermanent or supplemental person, such as a postdoctoral fellow or a part-time worker.
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On the whole, the laboratories are well maintained, but the facility is over 30 years old, and it suffers from all the inherent infrastructure inadequacies of older laboratories. Automation and Information Work in this area mainly is conducted within the Building Environment Division, but one project is located in the Structures Division.
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Currently the Construction Automation Group is in the Structures Division, whereas all the other projects are in the Building Environment Division. All of the groups might benefit if the construction automation work was better integrated with the other projects.
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In fiscal year 1997, staffing for the work in Automation and Information included 12 fi~lltime permanent positions, of which ~ ~ were for technical professionals. There were also two nonpermanent and supplemental personnel, such as postdoctoral fellows and part-time workers.
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Mission Work in this area encompasses almost all of the programs carried out in the Structures The mission of the Structures Division, according to the laboratory, is to increase the productivity and safety of building construction by providing technical bases for improved structural and earthquake design criteria and to conduct laboratory, field, and analytical research in structural engineering that includes the following: investigation of important structural failures, characterization of normal and extreme loads on buildings occurring during construction and in service, associated structural response and methods for providing desired reliability, development of design criteria for reduction of risks from natural hazards, evaluation methods and criteria for safe and economical construction practices, engineering properties of soils and foundations, and nondestructive evaluation methods and criteria for assessing structural properties. The programs in structural evaluation acIdress the development of measurement methocis for condition assessment ant!
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Also, the reasons for the placement of the Construction Automation project in the Structures Division were not clear to the panel, as all of the other programs that focus on Automation and Info'~ation are located within the Building Environment Division. Impact of Programs The dissemination of results is in the form of research reports, design guidelines, collections of test results, and software.
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Division Resources Funding sources for the work in Structural Engineering (in millions of dollars) are presented below: Fiscal Year 1997 NIST-STRS, 2.2 excluding Competence OA/NFG/CRADA 0.3 Total 2.5 In fiscal year 1997, staffing for the work in Structural Engineering included 17 full-time permanent positions, of which 14 were for technical professionals.
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Mission The mission of the fire-related work, according to the laboratory, is to perform research for scientific and engineering understanding of fire phenomena and metrology for fire research and to develop engineering methods to predict the behavior of fire and smoke and means to mitigate their impacts on people, property, and the environment. The parallel missions of the Fire Science and Fire Safety Engineering Divisions are pursued through integrated programs and objectives to meet the science and engineering needs of fire safety.
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~ In fiscal year ~ 997, staffing for the work in Fire Science and Fire Safety Engineering included 58 fi~-time permanent positions, of which 50 were for technical professionals. There were also 16 nonpermanent and supplemental personnel, such as postdoctoral fellows and parttime workers.
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Mission According to the laboratory, the mission of the Office of Applied Economics is to provide economic products and services through research and consulting to industry and government agencies in support of productivity enhancement, economic growth, international competitiveness. and public safety, with a focus on improving the life-cycle quality and economy of constructed facilities.
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Examples of current laboratory projects that are contributing to these goals include the work on the Computer-Integrated Construction Environment, the Cybernetic Building Systems, and the Economics of High-Performance Concrete projects. The first two programs aim to provide mechanisms and systems to assist in planning and monitoring budget construction and performance.
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For example, the software for the BEES project allows users to assign weights and to evaluate the LCCs and environmental impacts of alternative building materials. Also, the project on the Economics of New Technology Materials, is developing the BridgeLCC software to disseminate the laboratory's work on bridge maintenance analyses.
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is also particularly pleased to report that the renovation of the Fire Test Facility in Building 205 will strengthen the laboratory's capabilities and is critical to fulfilling the laboratory's mission in measurements, standards, and public safety. The success strategy that has evolved over the last few years is very sound.
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