Requirements for automatic smoke control in new high-rise buildings are soon to be included in every major national building code and may also be extended by many cities to existing buildings (for example, as does the recently enacted New York City "Local Law No.5").

As these model codes are adopted. either state-wide or local, the air-conditioning engineer will discover that the design of his air handling systems has a new responsibility, that of life safety from smoke.

The 1973 ASHRAE HANDBOOK & Product Directory. Systems, now includes Chapter 41 titled "Fire and Smoke Control". This new chapter is not only timely with the new codes but also provides an excellent review of smoke control as well as a digest of technical articles on the current state of the art. Chapter 41 should be required study for any engineer attempting a smoke control design for a high-rise structure.

Here are two quotes from the first section of Chapter 41: (1) "It is now apparent that air-conditioning systems should provide not only their traditional function of environmental control but also should serve as a positive means for control of smoke and fire, should these hazards develop at any time in the life span of a building." (2) "The complexity and seriousness of these problems require concerted action by the entire team responsible for the design and operation of buildings, especially the air-conditioning engineer."