Thanks to all who responded. Now that I've had time to think about this and with the input from this great forum, I've come to some conclusions.
A) I'm a techie, not a PE - so I can't deviate from what the standard says. Section 11.2.3.2.3.1 says 20' maximum ceiling height and doesn't differentiate between a lower ceiling or a ceiling pocket ceiling. Since my ceiling pocket ceiling is greater than 20', I'll be calcing a full 1500 sf. I think it's PROBABLY overkill, but so be it. B) Three issues concerning ceiling pockets: 1) do they need to be sprinklered? Section 8.6.7 (and similar sections) does a good job addressing that. 2) Can the QR design area reduction be applied when ceiling pockets are present? Section 11.2.3.2.3 addresses that, but I wish there was clarification if "20' max ceiling height" applied to the ceiling pocket ceiling height or not. 3) What percent reduction to the DA do you apply to ceilings with ceiling pockets? Section 11.2.3.2.3 addresses that also, but again, I wish there was clarification if "ceiling height" applied to the ceiling pocket ceiling height or not. I'll be asking for an informal interp from AFSA (heads up, guys). c) There's a whole lot going on with the fire dynamics of ceiling pockets. And a lot of variables - ceiling height, pocket footprint/volume/depth, pocket sprinklered or not, etc. I suspect extensive fire modeling would shed light on it, but until then, we work with what we got. Ed Kramer Littleton, CO _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
