Fire Protection & Life SafetyUniversal Design & Accessible SolutionsAlternative Solutions & Performance Based DesignIndependent Professional Services Mass Timber
Assuring you an exceptional fire protection and life safety design
Fire Protection and Life Safety is a complex discipline of vital concern to building design and construction. LMDG brings professional training and experience in a variety of related fields to the resolution of specific design and construction problems. We are a team of fire protection and life safety specialists with an in-depth understanding of building codes, standards and regulations and their relationship to the design and construction of building projects.
What are the benefits of LMDG’s fire protection and life safety expertise?
- Objective and value driven design
- Proven track record of delivering large and complex projects
- Established relationships with industry partners and regulatory bodies
- Expertise in system integration
- Legacy of supporting design from inception to occupancy
- Resources able to be drawn from across Canada
- Skilled and experienced staff that are recognised as leaders in the industry through research and committee involvement
Helping to create equitable, inclusive universal design and accessibility solutions
Universal design is the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability or disability. LMDG is committed to creating safe and inclusive built environments and offers expertise on implementing comprehensive accessible design solutions. Our collaborative process includes learning from people with a diverse range of abilities and perspectives.
What are the benefits of LMDG’s universal design and accessibility solutions?
- Help limit the probability that, as a result of the design or construction of a new or existing built environment, diverse users will be unacceptably impeded from accessing or using the building’s services and facilities
- Demonstrate the approach to compliance with building codes and standards as the acceptable (minimum) solution.
- Assess where the requirements apply and where exemptions are given
- Get guidance on industry best practices where conflicting applications of accessible design requirements arise
- Identify opportunities to improve accessible design solutions, in areas including, but not limited to accessible path of travel, accessible facilities and services, and egressibility
Going beyond the code with performance-based design
Is your project breaking new ground and going beyond prescriptive limitations of ‘acceptable’ or ‘deemed-to-satisfy’ solutions within building codes? Are your clients looking to achieve unique design, performance and sustainability goals that go beyond code? Are you tackling one-of-a-kind design solutions or complex fire engineering requirements?
You will benefit from LMDG’s proven experience working with teams to achieve alternative solutions through performance-based design. Exposed mass timber and complex multi-floor interconnection and ventilation designs are examples of alternative solutions we’ve helped our clients achieve. Our approach to performance-based design includes close collaboration with expert specialist staff, along with the use of advanced software and evaluation tools.
What are the benefits of performance-based design LMDG can provide?
- Achieve and design project objectives beyond those explicitly specified within building codes
- Realize more value and/or cost savings on projects
- Provide integrated design solutions, involving multiple disciplines
- Analyze and express tolerable risk with subsequent risk proportionate mitigation measures
- Establish yourself as an industry leader applying the latest research and techniques
- Inform best practice by looking beyond prescriptive limitations and intent
What are examples of performance-based design solutions LMDG can provide?
- Fire & smoke modeling – The evaluation of fire development, smoke movement, and heat transfer within an environment. LMDG utilizes CFD (computational fluid dynamics) software and zone models to evaluate solutions
- Structural fire engineering – The optimization and rationalization of structural fire protection to buildings
- Human behaviour and evacuation – The understanding of human behaviour in fire and application within various environments. LMDG utilizes specialized evacuation modelling software to evaluate solutions
- Pedestrian modelling – The evaluation of pedestrian movement within densely populated environments such as transit environments. LMDG utilizes specialized pedestrian modelling software to evaluate solutions
- Risk Analysis – Qualitative or quantitative risk assessment that evaluates hazards, likelihood of occurrence, and consequence. Detailed analysis includes event & fault tree analysis, HAZAP, HAZID etc.
- Explosion & consequence analysis – Quantitative analysis to evaluate risk mitigation measures for environments subject to an explosion risk
Supporting Mass Timber construction, including exposed portions, in buildings that are prescriptively limited to noncombustible construction by use, height, and area.
Multiple floor level interconnections (open communication stairs & atriums) that are supported by a ventilation strategy enabling connectivity without prescriptive limitation
Independent Professional Services can help streamline your building permit process
What are the benefits that LMDG Independent Professional Services can provide?
- In cases where the Authority Having Jurisdiction does not have a building department to provide design and construction reviews, we can provide this service
- We streamline the process, confirming that the design of the project meets the building code and fire protection requirements relative to the applicable municipal, Provincial or National Building Code
- Helps with the timely resolution of code issues identified during construction
What you can expect from LMDG Independent Professional Services?
- As an Independent Professional, LMDG conducts construction drawing reviews of the construction documentation and provides a summary of code compliance assessment to the Client and Project Team
- Upon completion of the documentation review relative to code compliance, a letter of recommendation to permit building construction is provided to the Client
- During the construction period of a project, as an Independent Professional LMDG conducts periodic field reviews to assess and/or confirm the level of compliance with the life safety and fire protection requirements relative to the applicable Parts of the Provincial or National Building Code
- Upon completion of construction review and the successful demonstration of fire protection and life safety systems a letter of recommendation for occupancy/use is provided to the Client
Seeing the forest for the trees
Mass timber is an environmentally friendly building material as it comes from forests that are sustainable and renewable. This building material has emerged as an important factor in the construction industry as we shift towards a sustainable future, offering durability and eco-friendliness. Building with mass timber supports sustainability by promoting the use of a renewable resource, sequestering carbon, reducing embodied carbon, and contributing to energy-efficient and adaptable construction practices. LMDG embraces the importance of integrating mass timber into its projects to align with environmentally conscious design practices.
By working with architects, structural engineers, and the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) to incorporate mass timber into these diverse projects, LMDG is contributing to a greener future, showcasing our dedication to sustainable building practices within the framework of building codes.
What are additional key benefits of building with mass timber?
- With its high strength and dimensional stability, mass timber has a growing appeal to building professionals as an alternative to concrete, masonry, or steel in many building types.
- Hybrid construction pairs the high strength-to-weight ratio of mass timber with concrete and/or steel to create a cost-effective and sustainable building system.