1. Dynamic Evacuation Signage – Revisiting the Standard “Exit” Sign
11/30/ :54 PM
2019 NFPA Conference & Expo
Dynamic Evacuation Signage – Revisiting the Standard “Exit” Sign
Presented by:
Dan Gottuk
Mike Ferreira
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2. History of the “Exit” Sign
The text-based American sign has its origins in the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Exit signage became more prevalent leading to NFPA criteria in the 1930s and 1940s.
World War II led to the development of photoluminescent signs.
For a brief period radium was used to create self-illuminating signs.
By the 1960s and 1970s incandescent bulbs were regularly used to provide internal lumination of exit signs.

3. Fast-Forward to Today The lettering size has standardized.
Plastic casings have replaced metal ones.
LED bulbs have replaced incandescent bulbs.
Some signs come equipped with internal emergency power sources (batteries)
In other words……not much has changed!

4. Meanwhile……in the Rest of the World
In the late 1970s a Japanese fire safety association held a contest to design a new national emergency exit sign.
Out of 3,300 entries Yukio Ota’s running man was selected..
Shortly afterward, the ISO adopted the graphical signage in its codes and standards and variations of the sign quickly replaced text-based signs worldwide….except in the U.S.
In recent years, dynamic exit signage systems have been tested and installed commercially in Europe, Asia, and Australia and regulations are being developed for their use.

5. Let’s Compare Exit Signage to MNS Systems
YESTERDAY
TODAY
Design Requirements:
Audibility
Intelligibility
Survivability
Message Relevance
Risk Analysis
Threat Assessment
Emergency Response Planning (ERP)

6. Mass Notification System Technology
Intrusive MNS
Sirens, indoor/outdoor loudspeakers
Fire voice evacuation
Electronic signage
Code compliant
Public MNS
Sat/AM/FM radio broadcasts
Sat/off-air TV broadcasts
Location-specific
Text messages
Detection
Beam detectors
Multi-sensor detectors
Air sampling detection
Personal alerting
SMS Text (cell phones)
Computer pop-ups
Tone alert radios
Broadcast (Internet)
Automated voice dialing & text messaging
Local
Handheld bullhorns
Radio cell phones
Two-way radios

7. Design Basis Threats are Changing
In the building codes and standards the requirements for exiting are largely based on fires.
Today we need to re-think whether to design buildings to consider a broader range of threats:
Bomb threats.
Active shooter / armed aggressor.
Severe weather
Let’s take a closer look at Airports as an example……..

8. Airport Evacuation Events
Fire Related
1997 – London Heathrow
2006 – Istanbul (Ataturk)
2014 – London City Airport
2015 – Brisbane Airport
2015 – Moscow Domodedovo.
2015 – Rome Fiumucino

9. Airport Evacuation Events
Non-Fire Related
2012 – Miami: Man claimed dynamite in luggage.
2013 – Richmond: Threatening phone call.
2013 – Jacksonville: Man purporting to have bomb.
2015 – Crimea, Ukraine: Bomb Threat
2015 – Ontario: Suspicious object in carryon luggage.
2015 – London Gatwick: Suspicious object.

10. Brussels Attack – March 22, 2016
11 dead and over 100 wounded.
Simultaneous bombs on either side of departures hall.
Standard exit signage.
Passengers evacuated to tarmac and via main exits.

11. Istanbul Attack – June 29, 2016 41 dead and over 230 wounded.
Simultaneous bombs in car park, 1st floor departures hall, and ground level arrivals hall.
Standard exit signage.
Passengers evacuated to tarmac and via main exits.

12. LAX and JFK Evacuations
JFK – Aug. 14, 2016 LAX – Aug. 29, 2016
Two of USA’s largest airports evacuated due to false reports of active shooters.
In both events, sounds of shooting were unfounded and later reported to be due to loud clapping.
Airport staff unsure of the nature of the event and not able to give accurate guidance to passengers.
Passengers self-evacuated to tarmac, resulting in long delays to re-open airport.
Reports of “mass confusion”, “chaos”, “stampedes”

13. Case Study - Denver International Airport
35,000+ Employees
53.4 Million Passengers (2014)
Average 1,500 daily flights (2014)
Nonstop service to 170 destination (20 international)
5th busiest in USA, 17th busiest in World by passenger count
Photograph provided courtesy of Denver International Airport

14. Denver International Airport – Complicated Egress
Midfield Terminals
Large Open Spaces
Automatic People Mover (APM)
Connected Hotel
Connected Light Rail Station
Photograph provided courtesy of Denver International Airport

15. DIA’s Legacy Fire Alarm / Notification Systems
Original Fire Alarm design completed in late 1980’s.
Design based on 1988 Uniform Building Code and NFPA 72 A – E standards from late 1980’s
Notification: Horns. Strobes are non-synchronized, 15cd, marked “FIRE”
Large Commercial Paging System with analog components
Separate systems
Photograph provided courtesy of Denver International Airport

16. Performance-Based Risk Analysis
Assembled and revised over a period of 4 years.
Approximately 225 pages.
Identified at least 22 critically required or strongly-recommended items to be implemented by the project team.

17. Performance-Based Risk Analysis
DIA already addresses a broad range of hazards and risks including fire and non-fire events and public disturbances, security breaches, chemical releases, medical emergencies, weather events, seismic events, and terrorist threats.
ECS RA focused on:
Occupancy Characteristics
Population
Anticipated Events
Operational Status
System Effectiveness
A key requirement of the 2010 edition of NFPA 72 is that MNS be designed to address the nature and anticipated risks of the facility. The requirement for a risk analysis recognizes that design approaches for MNS have to be specific to each project and may need to vary significantly from facility to facility in order to meet safety goals. The committee also realized that prescriptive requirements could not address all situations.”

18. NFPA 72 Chapter 24 Principles
In addition to the strobes required by , textual, graphic, or video displays shall be permitted. Visible Appliances:
Photograph provided courtesy of Jensen Hughes Inc.

19. Chapter 24 – Visible Appliances
Photograph provided courtesy of Jensen Hughes Inc.

20. Chapter 24 – Visible Messaging

21. Chapter 24 – Visible Messaging

22. We Tell Passengers to Exit…But Don’t Tell Them How!
U.S. Standard Exit Sign
Everywhere Else!

23. And We Don’t Tell Them Where NOT To Go!
Sometimes it’s just as important to tell people building occupants not to use an exit path that may lead to an unsafe location!

24. Use of Guided Signage for Airport Events

25. Dynamic Signage Systems
Studies have shown that significant number of building occupants will bypass static backlit exit signage.
Studies have also shown an increased use of exits with blinking lights or changing patterns that attract notice during emergencies.
EU Funded Getaway project tested use of directional signage in blind trials.
66% of people followed the signs to a prescribed exit, despite being unfamiliar with the technology.

26. Project Getaway – Dynamic Signage

27. Signage Types European – “Left Exit” European – “No Exit”
U.S. – “Right Exit”

28. Dynamic Signage – Fixed Signage

29. Dynamic Signage – Marimils System

30. Alternate Signage – Evaclite Concept System

31. Types of Dynamic Signage Systems
Simple signage systems that flash “EXIT” or “Running Man” type signs in a manner as to indicate the intended direction of exit travel, or path lighting leading to the available system of exits in the building.
Dynamic signage systems that alter the direction of indicated travel in a fixed manner depending on the nature of the emergency event. A library of routing solutions would likely be developed during design using passenger evacuation modeling to inform the routing solutions and to identify routing solutions that minimize congestion and queuing during exiting.
Real-time dynamic signage systems that incorporate a computer model that continues to run simulations based on changing conditions and alter routing solutions automatically as the event changes using an imbedded routing algorithm. These types of systems would likely require the ability to manually override the automatic routing solution should airport staff deem this necessary based on the changing event.

32. Interactive Dynamic Signage System (IADSS)
Situational Awareness component of the IADSS
Station CCTV
Live video input
CAE DE
Control Room Supervisor
EXODUS
FDS & ADSS control unit
ADSS (activated)
Real time people
counting data
EXODUS simulation request and
results returned
Sensor readings and
DSS control
Signage component of the IADSS
Intelligent component
of the IADSS

33. Potential Issues Choosing the Exit Routes When to Initiate
Engineering judgement.
Modeling and simulation
When to Initiate
Automatic is preferred.
A “man in the loop” can be given the ability to change signage directions if conditions warrant.
Liability / Legal Issues
What if we don’t act and we send someone into harm’s way.

34. It’s Time to Get on the Bus!
Consider Dynamic Exit Signage
Flashing the sign or directional chevrons signals a changing condition to building occupants and increases the use of the exits.
Directing people away from unusable exits or areas of higher hazard is beneficial to safety.
New technologies are now commercially available to make dynamic exiting possible.
We need to start developing a framework for use of dynamic exit signage in the codes and standards.

35. For More Information Visit
QUESTIONS?
Contact
Mike Ferreira
For More Information Visit
jensenhughes.com