Wayfinding e gestione dell’esodo in caso di incendio nei teatri storici: soluzioni innovative (e sostenibili) a confronto

In case of fire, the rapid and correct evacuation of autonomous occupants from Building Heritage can be ensured thorugh wayfinding systems, so as to focus rescuers’ operations on disabled people. These solutions have a low impact on the building since they do not need layout modifications. Contrary to “passive” signage, “active” (intelligent) wayfinding systems monitor human egress process, fire spreading and building damages, and suggest best escape paths depending on these conditions. According to a Behavioural Design approach, this work proposes a low-impact Intelligent Evacuation Guidance Systems-IEGS focused on the human egress behaviors tracking. Sensors data are collected by a central unit, which find the best evacuation route avoiding the use of overcrowded building areas (corridors, staircases, geometrical bottlenecks). Finally, interactive signs (placed at doors and paths intersections) point out these recommended directions to evacuees. The system effectiveness is evaluated by means of egress simulations on a case study (the “Gentile da Fabriano” theatre in Fabriano, Italy), by using a validated simulator developed by our research group. The scenario includes the presence of disabled occupants and related rescuers’ operations. The theater egress time is significantly reduced (up to -32%) by using the active system in respect to the passive one