From Semantic-Based Rule Checking to Simulation-Powered Emergency Egress Analytics

Complying with the International Building Code (IBC) is essential in architectural design. Computer-Aided Design (CAD) tools have been developed to perform BIM-based (Building Information Modeling) rule checking for fire egress scenarios. Such tools are helpful in identifying design flaws for potential egress evacuations. However, these rule checking tools consider static building design features without considering the space semantics (i.e. what the space is designed for), and more importantly, time-based dynamics to understand how the design would impact the behavior of human inhabitants. As a result, a building design may pose threats for human safety. This work aims to develop a computational tool to perform an automatic semantic-based simulation-powered rule checking for fire egress scenarios in architectural design. Beyond static geometric information, the tool considers space semantics and utilizes dynamic crowd simulations to predict the impact of a design-space with respect to potential egress evacuation on the safety of human inhabitants. A case-study showcases how simulation-powered semantic-based egress analyses can identify problematic areas for potential safety hazard and provide time-based dynamics of potential building–occupant interactions.