Scientists at the University of Greenwich (UK) have released the next generation of buildingEXODUS evacuation and crowd simulation software, already one of the world’s leading design tools for simulating evacuations of people from buildings in both normal and emergency conditions. The latest release will enable building engineers to perform the most realistic desktop simulations that have ever been possible, predicting not only how individual people interact with each other and the built environment, but also how they can be debilitated by hazards such as heat, smoke, and toxic gases.
Developed by the university’s Fire Safety Engineering Group, the software features a human behavior submodel that includes rules governing the often complex behavior of people affected by smoke in fire situations, and the use of signage in an emergency. It also examines the psychological aspects governing how and why people select an escalator or an adjacent staircase as their escape route.
Since its launch in 1996, the buildingEXODUS package has been used by engineers, architects, research labs, regulatory authorities, police forces, firefighters, and universities in 37 countries. It has also been used to model the evacuation capabilities of a wide range of proposed or existing buildings and crowd situations, from the Love Parade disaster analysis to the Beijing Olympics, and from the World Trade Center investigation to the Statue of Liberty redevelopment.
The software is used in design analysis for underground stations, high-rise buildings, hospitals, shopping complexes, school buildings, museums, theatres, airport terminals, sports stadiums, external crowd events, and virtually any type of situation involving the gathering or movement of people.
