Escaping From High-Rises

For escape from high-rises, it's high tech to the rescue. An 'executive chute' is one of many innovations on the market. Some doubt if 'last-resort' systems work.

1 minute read

October 25, 2005, 7:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen

"Since 9/11 and the collapse of the World Trade Center, business executives, architects, engineers, and safety experts have worked to find safer ways to evacuate skyscrapers, focusing mostly on improving stairwells and elevators.

...In its final report on the collapse of the Twin Towers, expected this month, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is set to recommend an evaluation of "the full range of current and next generation evacuation technologies" including "exterior escape devices," says a NIST spokesman.

...Despite opposition from many building-safety experts, the "last-resort" escape systems are being taken more seriously as federal agencies and standards-setting bodies debate the issue."

FULL STORY: For escape from high-rises, it's high tech to the rescue

Tuesday, October 25, 2005 in The Christian Science Monitor

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