What's the number one killer for anyone trapped inside a burning mall or atrium? Smoke. For decades design professionals have used algebraic equations to calculate the smoke-flow rate of an exhaust inlet for large commercial structures. Today, designers are looking at Computational Fluid Dynamics or CFD. Once the stuff of science fiction and supercomputers, CFD has been instrumental in the design and manufacture of aircraft, boiler systems and even weather forecasting. Considering the world's infatuation for bigger commercial buildings and a stringent International Building Code (IBC), CFD is now considered the most realistic method for simulating "fire-induced flows." Design professionals and fire-fighters agree that CFD will save lives.

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