NIST experiment to replicate an office fire in the World Trade Center. Tests such as this helped validate computer models of the spread rate and intensity of the fires initiated by jet fuel and fed by the office furnishings and other combustibles. NIST

(NIST: Gaithersburg, Maryland) -- Safer buildings—especially tall structures—that are more resistant to fire and more easily evacuated in emergencies are the goal of the first comprehensive set of building code changes recently approved by the International Code Council, based on recommendations from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The recommendations were the result of the findings of NIST’s three-year investigation of the collapses of New York City’s World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001.

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