Teaching the integration of safety and fire protection elements into the building design process

Summarized within the following article are the attempts made over an eight-year time period at the Illinois Institute of Technology to improve the skills of its Architecture and Architectural Engineering Students with regards to the integration of safety and fire protection into the building design process. System integration has long been recognized as the key to an effective and efficient building operating building. The process involved in the integration of a fire protection subsystem, along with additional MEP subsystems within a building is quite challenging, and can have a profound impact on the client's satisfaction. This process becomes especially important once further technological system integration within a proposed building is considered in addition to the possibility of future system upgrades and their incorporation into the structure, as newer technologies enter the market place. The objective of this paper is to discuss the project-based learning integrated with formal lectures approach in which the goal is the integration of safety and fire protection measures into the building design process to achieve the most efficient, economical, and environmentally friendly design. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2009.