Changes of buildings regulations regarding the allowable height of mass timber structures in North America have been proposed. The proposed changes are to a significant extent based on real scale fire experiments of compartments that have been performed in laboratories in which the influence of wind is negligible. It has, however, been questioned whether the proposed regulations are relevant for realistic scenarios with external wind loads acting on the building during a compartment fire.
The study discussed in this report involves a review of previous literature, analysis of available test results and single zone modeling to study potential effects of external wind on the internal and external exposure of fires in compartments with exposed CLT.