An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Measurement and Standards Laboratories Fiscal Year 1999 (1999) / Chapter Skim
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Chapter 7 Building and Fire Research Laboratory
Chapter 7 Building and Fire Research Laboratory
Pages 151-186
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Chapter 7 Building and Fire Research Laboratory L
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Baum, this assessment of the fiscal year 1999 activities of the Building and Fire Research Laboratory is based on site visits by individual panel members, a formal meeting of the pane] on March ~ I-12, 999, in Gaithersburg, Md., and documents provided by the laboratory.
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These ~ 0 goals are split into 6 major products, each of which targets the release of a specific deliverable, and 4 other high-impact objectives, each of which is a general collection of programmatically related work. The major products are these: I
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The BFRL is divided into five divisions: Structures, Building Materials, Building Environment, Fire Safety Engineering, and Fire Science. In addition, within the laboratory office there is an active research program conducted on Standards and Codes Services in the Office of Applied Economics (OAE)
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The work under Service Life Prediction includes investigations of organic building materials and collaboration with the coatings consortium. The array of projects is producing good and interesting results.
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Finally, a collection of projects in the Fire Safely Engineering and Fire Science Divisions constitute the laboratorY's work on Advanced Fire Measurements and Firefighting Technologies. The panel continues to be pleased with the relative absence of boundaries between these two divisions and the smooth collaborations that occur among the staff.
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Other problems related to external funding are discussed below in the context of issues related to resource allocation and staff development. The BFRE has recently adopted the strategic approach of organizing laboratory projects into 10 major objectives that do not fall strictly along divisional lines.
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:CE, the distribution of funds is uneven and unclear. As of January 1999, staffing for the Building and Fire Research Laboratory included 157 full-time permanent positions, of which 129 were for technical professionals.
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The current array of projects in the Structures Division aligns well with this mission statement and supports the development ofthe laboratory's major objectives. The emphasis on work related to standards is appropriate and valuable to industries involved in building design, construction, and service.
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The reorganization of the Structures Division has created a group structure that is aligned with the major products of the BFRE. The Structural Evaluation and Standards Group supports the Partnership for High-Performance Concrete Technology, the Structural Systems and Design Group is part of the Performance Standards Systems for Housing, and the Construction Metrology and Automation Group contributes to the work on the Computer-Integrated Construction Environment.
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NIST-STRS, 2.3 2.5 excluding Competence STRS-nonbase 0.6 0.4 ATP 0.0 0.1 OA/NFG/CRADA 0.5 0.3 Total 3.4 3.3 As of January 1999, staffing for the Structures Division included 21 full-time permanent positions, of which ~ g were for technical professionals. There were also two nonpermanent and supplemental personnel, such as postdoctoral research associates and part-time workers.
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From page 162... ...
The Building Materials Division has primary responsibility for two BFRL objectives: the Partnership for High-Performance Concrete Technology major product and the Service Life Prediction objective. The work on PHPCT is clearly focused on delivery of a defined product, HYPERCON, a computer-integrated knowledge system incorporating verified multiattribute models for prediction and optimization of the performance and LCC of high-performance concrete (HPC)
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From page 163... ...
in the Inorganic Building Materials Group, there are a variety of projects under way that contribute to the BFRL major product PHPCT. The centerpiece of the work is the HYPERCON Knowledge System for High-Performance Concrete, a prototype computer-integrated knowledge system that is designed to compile and disseminate reliable information about technologically advanced concretes.
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Without the protocols developed by NIST, conventional methods had resulted in inconsistent interpretations of mechanisms of distress. In the Organic Building Materials Group, a wide range of projects that constitute the BFRL's objective in SEP are under way.
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The final group in the Building Materials Division is the Construction Materials Reference Laboratory. The goal of this group is to provide quality assessment procedures to commercial laboratories that perform testing of construction materials.
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As of January 1 999, staffing for the Building Materials Division included 21 full-time permanent positions, of which 1 g were for technical professionals. There were also five nonpermanent and supplemental personnel, such as postdoctoral research associates and parttime workers.
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From page 167... ...
According to division documentation, the mission of the Building Environment Division To reduce the cost of designing and operating buildings and increase the international competitiveness of the U.S. building industry by providing modeling, measurement, and test methods needed to use advanced computation and automation effectively in construction, to improve the quality of the indoor environment, and to improve the performance of building equipment; To conduct laboratory, field, and analytical research on building mechanical and control systems; To develop data, measurement methods, and modeling techniques for the performance of the building envelope, its insulation systems, building air leakage, and the release, movement, and absorption of indoor air pollutants; and To develop software performance criteria, interface standards, and test methods needed for the nation's building industry to make effective use of modern computer-aided design hardware and software and database management systems.
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for each group. The Mechanical Systems and Controls Group manages a series of projects in support of the BFRL major product CBS.
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Finally, the Building Environment Division staff is working with the Of lice of Applied Economics on economic impact analyses for the overall effort on CBS.
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, which wall be an important toot for modeling building systems performance. The work on the BFRL objective Metrology for Sustainable Development is conducted in three groups: Thermal Machinery, Indoor Air Quality and Ventilation, and Heat Transfer.
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This project is an excellent example of BFRL's responsiveness to industry concerns and needs. The Heat Transfer Group continues its traditional role of measuring thermal properties of building materials.
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In a proactive effort to quantify the impact of NIST's work on CBS, staff from the Of lice of Applied Economics have begun to estimate the costs and benefits associated with this program. BFRE is expected to spend roughly $!
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This process will be controversial; the Indoor Air Quality and Ventilation Group leader will be filling a difficult but important role when he assumes the chair of the relevant ASHRAE standards committee. The Heat Transfer Group has long had significant impact in the United States through measurement of thermal properties of building materials.
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The final concern of the pane! is the relationship between the Computer-Integrated Construction Group in the Building Environment Division and the Construction Metrology and Automation Group in the Structures Division.
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In the Fire Safety Engineering Division, it is particularly important that the efforts directed toward meeting the BFRL objectives, especially the Industrial Fire Simulation System, involve the development and application of fundamental fire science to provide generalized solutions to a broad range of problems rather than short-term, ad hoc solutions to very specific problems. In many fire hazard areas, BFRE is the only institution in 175
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-err In addition to the work on the IFSS, the division comanages the BFRL major objective on Advanced Fire Measurements and Firefighting Technologies with the Fire Science Division. The panel was pleased by the level of coordination that is happening for this work and the ease with which cross-divisional collaboration occurs.
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NIST-STRS, 2.3 2.4 excluding Competence STRS-nonbase 0.4 0.3 OA/NFG/CRADA 1.7 1.8 Other Reimbursable 0.1 0. 1 Total 4.5 4.6 As of January 1 999, staffing for the Fire Safety Engineering Division included 28 fulltime permanent positions, of which 22 were for technical professionals.
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From page 178... ...
The goal of this work is to provide performance prediction methods and measurements to industry to assist in the development and deployment of next generation fire-safe polymers for commercial applications. The BFRL objective, Advanced Fire Measurements and Firefighting Technologies, is a coordinated effort with the Fire Safety Engineering Division.
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From page 179... ...
Impact of Programs The ongoing shift in emphasis from production of research results to facilitation of improvements to fire safety will continue to have a positive impact on the laboratory's ability to deliver value in a timely fashion. The refocusing also appears to be stimulating the industrial interactions observed by the panel in the Fire Science Division.
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From page 180... ...
NIST-STRS, 1.9 2.1 excluding Competence Competence 0.2 0.2 STRS-nonbase 0.2 0.2 ATE 0.1 0.1 OA/NFG/CRADA 2.0 1.8 Total 4.4 4.4 As of January 1999, staffing for the Fire Science Division included 28 fi~-time permanent positions, of which 25 were for technical professionals. There were also eight nonpermanent and supplemental personnel, such as postdoctoral research associates and parttime workers.
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companies in international markets. Technical Merit and Appropriateness of Work OAK and Standards and Codes Services staff are active in a wide variety of projects, from tools for economic product evaluations to technical methods for measuring building performance, which can be expected to have an impact on the building industries in many different ways.
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From page 182... ...
Impact of Programs Overall, the work of OAK and Standards and Codes Services staff contributes to 7 of the ~ O BFRL major objectives. Particularly notable programs include the development of userfriendly approaches to the evaluation of alternative systems and components for the ComputerTntegrated Construction Environment; the identification of potential users of Cybernetic Building Systems technologies and the development of economic tools to determine cost-effective levels of investment by such users; the integrated life-cycle-cost assessments of alternative materials and composites for the Partnership for High-Performance Concrete Technology and the BEES work; and the codes and standards efforts in support of the Performance Standards Systems for Housing.
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There are a number of major national codes and standards organizations, and if NIST staff can coordinate discussions among these institutions, some differences could be resolved and there might be coordinated national codes and standards efforts on adoption and use of performance-based criteria. Resources Funding sources for the Of lice of Applied Economics and the work on Standards and Codes Services (in millions of dollars)
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This too] was also used to identify and establish budget allocations for the realignment of BFRL major products.
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Important steps have been taken on the repair, renovation, and upgrade of major laboratory facilities such as Building 205 and the environmental chambers. The pane]
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