Fire Research Facility

Almonte, Ontario

Carleton University (in joint venture with the National Research Council - NRC)

This project was conceived through a joint venture between Carleton University and the National Research Council (NRC) resulting in a fire research facility unique in the world today. The building is located at the NRC Fire Research Centre in Almonte, Ontario.

As Canada moves towards the introduction and implementation of objective performance-based building codes, industry is looking to the research community for tools and information that will allow them to function effectively in the new performance-based environment. Although the move towards the performance-based approach is mainly a result of demands by industry for more flexibility in design leading to cost-effective solutions, when it comes to fire safety, the reality is that currently there is a lack of the tools, data and qualified personnel to facilitate this move. Many opportunities for innovative designs and major cost reductions are lost. The research that will be undertaken in the proposed research facility covers a number of areas including commercial and residential building fire safety, transportation facilities, such as tunnel, subway stations and underground parking / storage spaces, environmental damage, and health and safety of firefighters.

The research facility is a world unique facility for fire research. It comprises three areas: an area dealing with smoke control and smoke management in large areas, such as an atrium, an area for large-scale calorimetry, and a 50 metre long tunnel for performing fire research for the transportation industry. Facilities that can handle research in these areas do not exist in North America or anywhere in the world and industry in various international forums indicated a great need for such capabilities. The facility also includes mechanisms for smoke abatement that remove toxic products from the products of combustion before releasing them to the atmosphere.