BIM integrated smart monitoring technique for building fire prevention and disaster relief

•Construct Bluetooth-based sensor networks to detect/transmit environmental data•Combine Bluetooth-based sensors and mobile APP to conduct a personal localization•Plan the optimal evacuation/rescue routes and guide via human-based mobile APP•Develop a BIM-based system to enhance the evacuation/rescue effectiveness

Modern high-rise buildings may be configured into spaces of widely varying specifications. This situation creates a diverse building environment with multiple variables that make fire hazards difficult to predict and monitor accurately. Therefore, developing and implementing an integrated fire disaster prevention system is necessary in order to effectively prevent fire disasters and adequately protect life and property.In Taiwan, the response to an organization of fire prevention and disaster relief as well as evacuation planning and rescue guidance continue to rely primarily on human-provided intelligence. This method makes disaster-response decision-making inherently prone to error due to the inaccuracy, incompleteness, and poor communication of this intelligence. However, Building Information Modeling (BIM) and wireless sensor networks have been widely discussed in many aspects of building disaster-prevention management as approaches to increasing the accuracy and effectiveness of disaster-response decision-making. The present study uses BIM to construct a BIM-based Intelligent Fire Prevention and Disaster Relief System. This system integrates information on personal localization, on evacuation/rescue route optimization with Bluetooth-based technology, and on a mobile guidance device to create an intelligent and two-way fire disaster prevention system framework that displays the real-time and dynamic fire information in three dimensions (3D). The results of applying the BIM-based system demonstrate that it may effectively provide 3D visualization to support the assessment and planning of fire safety, to provide early detection and alarm responses, to direct efficient evacuation, and to facilitate fire rescue and control efforts in order to increase overall building safety and disaster-response capabilities.

Graphical abstractThis study aims to combine BIM to develop a "BIM-based Intelligent Fire Prevention and Disaster Relief System" which consists of five modules: (a) Environmental Perception, (b) FireSense, (c) Locating/Evacuation, (d) Locating/Fire Rescue, and (e) Global Information. The system may be effectively utilized in early detection and warning, real-time evacuation/rescue route planning and guidance, dynamic 3D visualization related to fire events, and bidirectional human-machine interactions in order to enhance the effectiveness of overall evacuation/rescue efforts.Download high-res image (149KB)Download full-size image