The experiment conducted by Sigge Arkkitehdit Oy aims at improving the efficiency of the collaboration between architects and fire protection engineers. An easy-to-share data model will eliminate unnecessary work phases and increase the interaction between the designers.

What kind of problem is the project trying to solve?

The BIM produced by an architect is not directly applicable as a basis for fire protection engineering. The model produced by the architect contains a lot of information that is not relevant to the simulations carried out by the fire protection engineer, and the high resolution of the model is problematic.

For escape time and fire simulations, the fire protection engineer must produce separate models in a construction project, resulting in redundant modelling work that decreases the efficiency of the work. In separate modelling, some of the spatial solutions in the plan may also be omitted and errors may occur in the model.

Objective: A shared data model for the architect and fire protection engineer

The objective of the experimental project is to study and document the process in which the BIM produced by the architect can be directly used as a basis for the fire protection engineering. The project aims at finding out the format in which the BIM created by the architect can be imported into the fire modelling system, conserving the necessary data in an editable format. 

What is done in this project?

In the project, we aim to find out the optimal route of transferring the data from the ArchiCAD model produced by the architect to the PyroSim software. The key elements of the process include the identification of interfaces, data transfer, modelling and comparison with the traditional process. In addition, guidance on the new working process will be drafted for both architects and fire protection engineers.

The development of collaboration also plays a key part in order to be able to examine the fire engineering plan in a model-based manner at the beginning of the planning project already. To make the most of the project, the process of transferring the events and observations identified in the PyroSim simulation to design control will also be documented.

What are the expected results of the experiment?

We hope that the IFC model produced by the architect can be translated directly into PyroSim without the need for modelling. If the model can be examined at an early stage of the project, it will also benefit the architect’s design work more efficiently. 

We hope that the simulated information will ensure a cost-effective, safe and healthy building design that is of high architectural quality. The quality of construction projects is improved when different options can already be tested at early stages of the design work. This way, materials produced for calculations, for example, are more detailed and the solutions are well thought-out. Escape time and fire simulation models are more detailed and visual because they are based on the architect’s up-to-date designs.

Who benefits?

The results of the experimental project benefit the whole construction project as the results of the fire simulation can be included in the design control and the necessary spatial and functional changes can be compared and discussed among the whole project crew. Simulations can be done at an earlier stage of the process, and instead of just one simulation, several can be carried out as the plan evolves.