Chicago, Illinois
June 18, 2006
June 18, 2006
June 21, 2006
2153-5965
9
11.951.1 - 11.951.9
10.18260/1-2--204
https://peer.asee.org/204
461
Development of National Fire Alarm Code Studies
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the development of a unique Fire Alarm Code class. The newly developing class is formally named National Fire Alarm Code Studies and is part of the four-year Safety and Fire Engineering Technology program at the University of Houston Downtown in Houston, Texas.
Development of the fire alarm code studies includes the knowledge and application of the national fire alarm code, NFPA 72. Included in the studies class are many actual hands-on design projects that range from the initial requirements of the authorized jurisdiction to the system final design.
Many of the fire alarm code studies students are fire and safety personnel. In addition, other students work in various related professions. The class students also have varied technical experience levels and backgrounds in academics.
The students in the fire code studies become acquainted with the national fire alarm code by using newly developed handouts and reference material, national fire alarm code handbooks that contains practical explanations of the code, and many actual practical design projects.
A feature that makes these class studies unique is the heavy use of group efforts and interaction of the groups on many hands-on design projects. Also unique in the class studies is the fact that various stages of the design projects are used extensively throughout the entire course from the very beginning to the final.
These projects use software to create designs that include the very basic concepts of national fire alarm code and carry on through the more advanced concepts. In addition, there is a capstone project for the course. This capstone project requires a proficiency in both the national fire alarm code and application software.
The innovative software exercises and projects that have been developed for the national fire alarm code studies are given.
Introduction
The goal of the development of the fire code studies is to create a new National Fire Alarm Code course as part of the four-year Safety and Fire Engineering Technology program at the University of Houston Downtown in Houston, Texas. The fire code studies students learn the National Fire Alarm Code, NFPA 72, and the use of software as a design tool for fire alarm systems. The students are not necessarily required to have prerequisite knowledge of design software, in particular LabVIEW.
Franz, H. (2006, June), National Fire Alarm Code Studies Development Paper presented at 2006 Annual Conference & Exposition, Chicago, Illinois. 10.18260/1-2--204
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