Field Study on Impact of Mechanical Pressurization on Pressure Distribution in High-Rise Buildings

In high-rise buildings, the excessive pressure differences cause various problems, and architectural and mechanical measures are always applied. In this study, pressure measurements on a 67-story high-rise building were conducted to evaluate the effect of mechanical pressurization on the pressure distribution. Absolute pressure measurement devices were installed at 28 points on 10 floors, a full-scale pressure profile of the test building was derived, and the pressure distributions on the main floors were reviewed. Four pressurization modes for the test building were considered, and the variation in the pressure distribution for each mode was analyzed. The results showed that mechanical pressurization reduced the pressure difference on the lobby floor by approximately 18%. Although it did not exert an apparent impact on the pressure difference due to the stack effect, pressurizing the entire floor serves as the most effective way of reducing the excessive pressure difference.