A review on fire safety in buildings with glass façade

Many buildings with glass façades are constructed in big cities all over the world. Fire safety concern is starting to be raised. Regulations and design guidelines on fire safety for glass façades are not available yet. Efforts are made in different countries on setting up new fire safety standards and codes for buildings with large glazing areas. In this article, fire safety for glass façades will be discussed with possible fire hazards discussed. The current code of practices on using glass and associated research works are briefly reviewed. It is observed that literature studies were basically on cracking of glass panes upon heating up in a fire. As most of the works concern only about small fires, fire behavior of glass façade under big fires in tall buildings should be studied. © 2009, Baywood Publishing Co., Inc.