A Review of Building Evacuation Models - NIST Virtual Library

A.2 EVACNET4
Developers: Kisko, Francis, and Nobel, University of Florida, U.S.
Purpose of the model: EVACNET4 3-5 can be used for any type of building, such as office
buildings, hotels, skyscrapers, auditoriums, stadiums, retail establishments, restaurants, and
schools. The purpose of the model is to describe an optimal evacuation from a building,
meaning that the model minimizes the time to evacuate the building. EVACNET4 replaces the
previous version, EVACNET+.
Availability to the public for use: Yes, the model is available for public use for free.
Modeling method: Movement model
Structure of model: This is a coarse network model. Figure A.2 shows the nodes
designations in the rectangles connected by arcs (arrows). Examples of node types are WP
(workplaces or rooms), HA (hallway), SW (stairwell), LO (lobby), and DS (destination node or
the outside). The numbers assigned to each node and arc are provided by the user and are
explained in the movement section of this review.
Figure A.2: EVACNET4 building structure - nodes and arcs
Perspective of model: The model views the occupants as a mass of people (global), and the
occupants have a global view of the building, since occupants will move in the most optimal way
throughout the space. Even though this movement may not be the shortest route, occupants are
moved in a certain direction only to achieve occupant distributions that produce minimal
evacuation time. In other words, all exits will have a similar time of use during the evacuation.
Occupant behavior: None.
Occupant movement: For each node, the user specifies its capacity and initial contents, in
number of people. For each arc, the user supplies an arc traversal time and arc flow capacity.
The traversal time is the number of time periods it takes to traverse the passageway (represented
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