In new NFPA Journal, weighing in on hospital smoke compartment size

At last year’s NFPA Conference & Expo, NFPA members voted to reject the idea of increasing the allowable smoke compartment size in hospitals from 22,500 square feet to 40,000 square feet. The proposed change would have been included in the 2015 edition of NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®. Despite the outcome, “the premise for the increase in smoke compartment size for new construction remains viable,” writes Ron Coté, principal life safety engineer at NFPA. In his new column “input Wanted” in the new January/February issue of NFPA Journal, Coté lays out the arguments for and against the provision and why...