Methodology to Assess Building Designs for Protection against Internal Chemical and Biological Threats

Abstract

Recent world events involving chemical and biological (CB) attacks within critical infrastructure have highlighted a potential threat to buildings and their occupants. As a result, protecting buildings from CB attacks has become an important design consideration. A methodology has been developed to provide decision makers with the ability to assess multiple building designs for protection against an internal CB release. This methodology includes modeling and simulation of CB contaminant dispersion, a quantitative means to calculate a building’s protection level, and a weighted sum, multiple objective optimization for design selection. This paper outlines the phases in the methodology, and focuses on the application of multizone modeling and optimization techniques to compare design alternatives. The assessment of design options for CB protection in a hospital emergency room is used as an illustrative example. Optimal design options are determined based on the weighted combination functions for the building’s protection level, initial capital costs, and ongoing operations and maintenance costs.