www.aoc.gov
Fire Protection and Life Safety
at the Library of Congress
October 2013
Background
AOC, Library Buildings and Grounds
LBG Jurisdiction at a Glance-
• Culture of Safety Focus with 160 employees.
• Facility Operations and Tennant Services Divisions providing Year Round Care.
• Preventative Maintenance Programs
• Annual Space Renovation Program of approximately 100,000 square feet
• Capital Improvement program budget of $40M Annual.
• Annual Operating budget $27M.
For Official Use Only
Public Law 108-447 Security Review Pending For Official Use Only
Public Law 108-447 Security Review Pending
AOC, Library Buildings and Grounds-
Responsibilities
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www.aoc.gov
The AOC led by its Superintendents, is responsible for the day-to- day structural, mechanical, and
electrical care for the Library facilities and surrounding grounds. Services include maintaining air
conditioning, electrical, fire protection, and elevator systems; grounds care; machine work, masonry,
painting and refinishing, plumbing, sheet metal, and wood crafting.
Thomas Jefferson Building (1897)
John Adams Building (1938)
James Madison Memorial Building (1980)
The LBG also cares for off-site facilities:
•
Congressional Campus, Fort Meade, Maryland (1993)
•
Packard Campus
of
Audio-Visual Conservation,
Culpeper, Virginia (2007)
Little Scholars Child Development Center
Book Storage Modules at Ft. Meade Maryland
National Audio Visual Conservatory- Culpepper VA.
Legal Framework
The 2012 AOC Design Guidelines establishes codes and regulatory
requirements for design and construction-
• Adopts the 2009 International Building Code
• Currently adopting the 2009 International Fire Code
• Referenced NFPA Standards
Congressional Accountability Act of 1995
• Act requires Legislative Branch to follow many of the employment
and work place safety laws applied to private businesses and the
rest of the Federal Government.
• Established the Office of Compliance (OOC) to administer and
enforce the Act.
For Official Use Only
Public Law 108-447 Security Review Pending For Official Use Only
Public Law 108-447 Security Review Pending
www.aoc.gov
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Fire Protection at AOC
Protecting People, Historic Assets and Mission of
Congress and the Supreme Court is a group effort!
• LBG Jurisdiction
• Design Services
• Programs and Project Management
• Fire Marshal Division
Library Buildings and Grounds
Fire Protection Overview
Fire Protection Systems
• Wet, Deluge and Dry Sprinkler Systems
• FM-200 Systems
• Low Expansion Foam Systems
• Smoke Detection Systems
For Official Use Only
Public Law 108-447 Security Review Pending For Official Use Only
Public Law 108-447 Security Review Pending
Library Buildings and Grounds
Fire Protection Overview
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www.aoc.gov
Protected Items within the Main Campus
• Book Stacks
• Rare Collections
• Data Centers
Library Buildings and Grounds
Fire Protection Overview
Protected Items within the Packard Campus
(Culpeper, VA) Hazards
• Nitrate Vaults
• Contain Cellulous Nitrate Film
• 4-hour construction
• Each vault is protected by a deluge
valve
• Sprinkler operation on a single smoke
detector activation
For Official Use Only
Public Law 108-447 Security Review Pending For Official Use Only
Public Law 108-447 Security Review Pending
Library Buildings and Grounds
Fire Protection Overview
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www.aoc.gov
Library Buildings and Grounds
Fire Protection Overview
Ft. Meade Hazards
• Storage Modules
• 30-feet high rack shelving
• Almost 7 Million Collections
• Diesel Fuel Storage
For Official Use Only
Public Law 108-447 Security Review Pending For Official Use Only
Public Law 108-447 Security Review Pending
Life Safety Improvement Program
Main Campus Buildings
• Major issues include:
– Unprotected penetrations in fire barriers. (IT, Utilities, Book Conveyor system)
– Non-rated doors/ Fire doors being improperly held open.
– Unprotected vertical openings in book stacks
– Inadequate egress for Thomas Jefferson Building
• Conducted studies and initiated projects involving improvements to
automatic sprinkler systems, fire alarm systems, passive fire
protection, smoke control systems and means of egress features.
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Outline of Completed, On-going, and
Planned Life Safety Improvement Projects
AOC has initiated/executed the a number of projects including:
– Projects in Construction/Planned Projects
•
Sprinkler Upgrades continued
Finish sprinkler upgrades in the TJB to provide automatic sprinkler protection thoughout.
•
Smoke Control Systems
– Completed Projects
•
Smoke Detector Upgrades
TJB, JAB JMMB provided with automatic smoke detection throughout each building
•
Sprinkler Upgrades
JAB and JMMB protected by automatic sprinklers throughout. 98% of TJB protected by automatic sprinklers.
•
Egress Improvements
Correcting excessive common paths of travel, provided two new exits out the north side of the JAB, re-swung
doors to swing in the direction of egress travel, widened doors in stairwells to account for convergence.
For Official Use Only
Public Law 108-447 Security Review Pending For Official Use Only
Public Law 108-447 Security Review Pending
Egress Improvements
Exit Stair Installation
Fours new exit stairs are being constructed as part of the abatement of this citation. The construction order
has been agreed to by the Library Buildings and Grounds Superintendent and the Fire Marshal Division:
Construction Order:
1. North Exit Stair 2. West Main Pavilion Exit Stair 3. Southwest Exit Stair 4. South Exit Stair
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Smoke Control
Great Hall and Main Reading Room
Thomas Jefferson Building
•
Main Reading Room Smoke Control Project
•
Great Hall Smoke Control Project
For Official Use Only
Public Law 108-447 Security Review Pending
Do Not Disseminate as Document May Contain Security Sensitive Information For Official Use Only
Public Law 108-447 Security Review Pending
Do Not Disseminate as Document May Contain Security Sensitive Information