Effectiveness of travel time during evacuation in high-rise residential buildings: a case study in Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract

PurposeIn recent years, the number of high-rise buildings in Malaysia has been increasing. Therefore, it is essential to take evacuation into consideration especially for emergency conditions such as fire, explosion and natural disasters. This research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the escape time in typical Malaysian high-rise residential buildings.Design/methodology/approachThis work comprises simulation on three buildings around the Selangor area in Malaysia. Quantitative methodology is adopted using Pathfinder software to simulate the evacuation process and time of the three typical Malaysian high-rise residential buildings. Four parameters were studied namely, the occupant load density, walking speed of first and last occupants, average of evacuation time per floor for the three buildings and effect of placement of emergency staircase on travel time.FindingsFindings show that 12 m2 which is double the allowable occupants' density in Malaysia increases evacuation time by 67.9% while the placement of the emergency staircase on the left and middle section of a building significantly affects the evacuation time by 21.2%. In conclusion, from the simulation studies, it is recognized that a higher occupant's density affects the evacuation time.Originality/valueThis work could provide information on escape time for future construction of high-rise buildings in Malaysia. Hence, the specification and design of buildings could be reviewed based on the results obtained from this simulation. This information could be beneficial to the building regulators and developers thus enhancing the knowledge of building constructor and possible issues in the design of staircases, corridors and height of buildings.

A Systematic Literature Review on Logistics Information Needs for Sharing in Malaysian Disaster Management

“…All the sub-themes are summarized according to their explanation, which can be referred at Figure 3. Analysis of 23 related articles collected from Scopus and Web of Science databases shows that six articles published in 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022 focused on evacuation decision making in Malaysia [39][40][41][42][43][44], one study published in 2018 focuses on disaster management strategies [45], one study published in 2018 focuses on determination of locations for shelters and routes for disaster relief [46], one study published in 2019 focuses on mechanism of disaster management [47], two studies published in 2019 and 2020 focus on information management in disaster management [23,48], one study published in 2019 focused on communication mechanism in disaster management and success factor of humanitarian logistics [49], three studies published in 2020 and 2021 focused on humanitarian aid for disaster victims [50][51][52], two studies published in 2020 and 2021 focused on issue and challenges in disaster management [53,54], one study published in 2021 concentrated on logistics system in disaster management [54], one study published in 2022 focused on coordination in humanitarian supply chain [55], one study published in 2019 focused on issues in emergency operation and coordination center (EOCC) [56], and one study published in 2019 focused on disaster preparedness, response and recovery in disaster management [57]. Based on the observations gained from the analysis, multiple topics in disaster management are covered by previous research within the years 2018-2022.…”

Simulation Study on Fire Product Movement Law and Evacuation in a University High-Rise Teaching Building

“…In recent years, many scholars at home and abroad have devoted themselves to the study of fire evacuation and established relevant theoretical models [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. Choi, S. et al [13] used a social force model to study the interrelationship between the level of evacuation alarm information and evacuation efficiency in high-rise buildings, and Ahmed F., et al [14,15] analyzed fire scenarios and evacuation plans in large shopping centers, and the results showed that the spread of smoke is related to the building and its internal activities and that corridors and stairs are crucial in the evacuation process.…”