NIST issues new code requirements

U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology code revision recommendations in the wake of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks are being implemented in new high-rise construction, including One World Trade Center, the lead building of the new World Trade Center complex.

New requirements include:

Buildings taller than 420 feet are now required to include an extra exit stairwell or a specially designed elevator that occupants can use for evacuations
Stairwells in buildings more than 75 feet high must now have glow-in-the-dark markings that show the exit path even when lighting is out or dim
Spray-applied fire-resistive materials must perform four times more effectively than current requirements in buildings 75 to 420 feet tall, and more than seven times better in buildings taller than 420 feet. BD+C

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.