November 9, 2005—While supporting the research conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) into the Sept. 11 World Trade Center collapse, The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International is taking issue with some of the recommendations NIST included in its June 23, 2005, draft report, BOMA says.
In a letter to U. S. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), chairman of the committee, BOMA urged NIST and the members of the committee to consider that safety in the built environment has greatly increased over the past several decades since the construction of the World Trade Center structures, and those improvements in structural, fire protection and building component systems have made building occupants safer than ever before.
NIST concluded that the WTC towers performed well, and withstood the crash of the jetliners, but collapsed due to fire fueled by normal office building materials. The report is comprised of several technical sections on various aspects of the September 11 disaster and includes recommendations on building and fire codes and standards as well as on construction and building operation practices.
BOMA’s comments focused on areas of the report concerning occupant egress and emergency response, the analysis of active fire protection systems and building and fire codes and practices.
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