The purpose of this primer is to introduce concepts that can help
building designers, owners, and state and local governments
mitigate the threat of hazards resulting from terrorist attacks on
new buildings. This primer specifically addresses four
high-population, private-sector building types: commercial office,
retail, multi-family residential, and light industrial. However,
many of the concepts presented here are applicable to other
building types and/or existing buildings. The focus is on explosive
attack, but the text also addresses design strategies to mitigate
the effects of chemical, biological, and radiological attacks.
Designing security into a building requires a complex series of
tradeoffs. Security concerns need to be balanced with many other
design constraints such as accessibility, initial and life-cycle
costs, natural hazard mitigation, fire protection, energy
efficiency, and aesthetics. Because the probability of attack is
very small, security measures should not interfere with daily
operations of the building. On the other hand, because the effects
of attack can be catastrophic, it is prudent to incorporate
measures that may save lives and minimize business interruption in
the unlikely event of an attack. The measures should be as
unobtrusive as possible to provide an inviting, efficient
environment that does not attract undue attention of potential
attackers. Security design needs to be part of an overall
multi-hazard approach to ensure that it does not worsen the
behavior of the building in the event of a fire, earthquake, or
hurricane, which are far more prevalent hazards than are terrorist
attacks. Because of the severity of the types of hazards discussed,
the goals of security-oriented design are by necessity modest. With
regard to explosive attacks, the focus is on a damage-limiting or
damage-mitigating approach rather than a blast-resistant approach.
The goal is to incorporate some reasonable measures that will
enhance the life safety of the persons within the building and
facilitate rescue efforts in the unlikely event of attack. It is
clear that owners are becoming interested in considering manmade
hazards for a variety of reasons including the desire to: attract
more tenants or a particular type of tenant, lower insurance
premiums or obtain high-risk insurance, reduce life-cycle costs for
operational security measures, and limit losses and business
interruption. Protection against terrorist attack is not an
all-or-nothing proposition. Incremental measures taken early in
design may be more fully developed at a later date. With a little
forethought regarding, for instance, the space requirements needed
to accommodate additional measures, the protection level can be
enhanced as the need arises or the budget permits after
construction is complete. This primer strives to provide a holistic
multi-disciplinary approach to security design by considering the
various building systems including site, architecture, structure,
mechanical and electrical systems and providing general
recommendations for the design professional with little or no
background in this area. This is one of a series of five FEMA
primers that address security issues in high-population,
private-sector buildings. It is the intent of FEMA that these
reports will assist designers, owners, and local/state government
officials in gaining a solid understanding of man-made hazards.
These reports will also discuss current state-of-the-art methods to
enhance protection of the building by incorporating low-cost
measures into new buildings at the earliest stages of site
selection and design.
General
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