220
The Service Module: Service Bays
223.3
LOCATION
The location and design of the service bay is important for fire safety and
acoustics. All the elements require two hour fire enclosure and the
mechanical room requires acoustic isolation. This isolation can be
maintained by absorbent room linings, isolation mounting for equipment
and, most important, the sealing of all openings through the shear walls
into the functional and service zones. The mechanical room must be
designed to allow installation and removal of the air-handling unit through
the opening in the exterior wall provided for the outside air inlet. All other
equipment change can be handled by service elevators outside the
service bay. Appropriate access routes through the functional zone to
such elevators will be required for equipment handling.
223.4
PRIORITY OF SERVICE
The services distribution and the equipment rooms in any service bay will
be designed to handle the service requirements of its own service module.
It is, in fact, the service control point for the module.
But to allow for some diversification, it might be appropriate to share
service between modules, either in the case of excessively high local
service loads, or to share an unusual service. This coupling is simple to
achieve where two service modules are in the same fire section, as there
is only a smoke stop or plenum barrier between the service zones.
Servicing to modules outside the fire section through the two-hour fire
partition is also feasible, except that sealing the duct and pipe openings
and fire dampering the ducts makes this option more complicated. See
diagram below.
Despite the relative ease of this sharing of services, it is highly preferable
to avoid the use of these options to simplify the control zones of each
service, preserve the simplicity of maintenance, and avoid the
complications of fire safety devices.
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