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A Brief Introduction to HASS 1 OVERVIEW HASS is a software which employees use to analyze fire sprinkler systems. It can be utilized to perform hydraulic calculations on designs done both internally and externally. Hydraulic calculations are performed in order to calculate the flow and pressure throughout the fire sprinkler system. These need to be done in order to verify that the design works and meets the applicable code standards. These calculations are not typically done throughout the entire sprinkler system, but only in the denoted “remote area”. This is where the most demand is needed, which means it is the hardest to obtain the required pressure and flow. The code minimum pressure required at the “remote” sprinkler is TYPICALLY 7 psig (depends on sprinkler type). Pressure loss is usually due to friction caused by the lengthy distance from the fire standpipe as well as any tee’s, elbows, other fixtures and elevation changes in the piping. Consult a member of the plumbing group if you have any further questions.

2 INSTALLATION The HASS software can be found in the Plumbing Group folder. A link to the folder is provided as follows: O:\Plumb\Hass\Hass 8.4 Consult a member of the plumbing group to determine the correct version to install as newer versions become available.

3 STARTING UP HASS After installation is complete, double-click the HASS icon (the dalmatian dog ) to begin use. When HASS is opened, you will see a dialog box similar to the one shown below. Select “No” to continue to the main screen.

You will then be directed to a blank screen with a number of shortcuts located on the top ribbon. You will become more familiar with these as you become more experienced with the software.

4 PERFORMING HYDRAULIC CALCULATIONS 4.1 PROPERLY CREATING AND SAVING SPRINKLER DATA FILE To begin your hydraulic calculation, click on the leftmost shortcut, it will display “New” if you hover the mouse over it, on the top ribbon or go to “File””New”. The next dialog box, shown below, will prompt you to name the file you are creating and select an area to save the file. Hydraulic calculations are usually saved within the projects “Internal Project””Calculations””Fire” folder. The file should be saved as a “Sprinkler Data(*.SDF)” file.

When the file is saved in the proper folder, a cover sheet will appear. Click “OK/Save” to begin inputting data.

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Before you can input the data, you must first label your nodes so that you can determine your route between nodes, pipe lengths and diameters, elevations and the number of fixtures. We will discuss common techniques for labeling nodes in the next section.

4.2 LABELING NODES There is no one single way to label nodes as everyone has their own technique from starting at the source or at the remote sprinkler to how many nodes to use. We will discuss a few common methods that is used by most of the plumbing group, but you will eventually develop a methodology that is easiest for you and makes the most sense. Shown below you can see an example of a floor plan with the nodes labeled. The node markers are typically done in Revit and the CAD manager of the project will create node tags specifically for the project, so they may be different than a previous project you have worked on. You can clearly see the “remote area” labeled in the bolded dotted line in the image below. There are nodes placed towards the top left of the image, these are the nodes from the fire standpipe, “SOURCE” in HASS. You must always place nodes at the source AND on all the sprinklers within the remote area AND back so as to complete a full loop.

In the image below, you will see a closer view of the “remote area”. These nodes were labeled beginning with the remote sprinkler head, 1S, while moving towards the source. One thing that should become a habit is labeling sprinkler heads as the node number followed by an “S”. The “S” denotes that it is the node for the sprinkler head, otherwise referred to as a “flowing node”, as this is where water is

discharged. This will assist you in inputting the data in HASS as sprinkler nodes need a K-factor (we will discuss later) whereas other nodes do not. A general rule of thumb is to place nodes where the flow of water will separate. This can be seen as you go from node 1S to node 2. The water can either continue upwards into the other branch OR turn left, that is why node 2 is placed there. You may be wondering why some sprinkler heads have two nodes, one with the “S” and one without, while others only have the “S” notation. If you look at nodes 9 and 9S, you can see that the water can either flow upwards into the sprinkler head or continue moving along the branch through a tee at node 9. Thus, the flow of water does in fact split therefore you need to place two nodes. Sprinkler heads at the end of branches, i.e. nodes 1S and 5S, do not have a second node as the flow of water can only go upwards to the sprinkler head. A node may be placed here as well, but it is unnecessary and would just clutter your node map and possibly confuse you. Another very important thing to pay attention to is that you do not double count fixtures, which typically include tee’s and elbows. A common rule of thumb is to either count the fixture at the starting or ending node of your run. For example, if you are inputting data from node 1S2 you would only put an elbow fixture that raises the sprinkler head and not the tee at node 2. Then, when you go from node 23 you would include only the tee fixture at node 2 and not node 3. This can be done at your own disgression as long as the all of the fixtures are accounted for.

Nodes are needed at the source as well to complete the calculations. This can be seen in the image below as “1A” refers to the fire standpipe. Nodes “1B”, “1C” and “1D” are intermediate nodes that are located between the remote area nodes and the source nodes. These are needed due to limitations within the HASS software that we will discuss in the next section.

4.3 INPUTTING DATA Now you may begin inputting your data to HASS. A sample of how the data should be added can be seen in the image below. QUICK TIP: “F2” key allows you to add entries quickly. We will outline the procedure in a few simple steps. 1. The nodes are added in the “Node Data Entry” section to the left. You enter all the nodes you previously created on the floor plan and include their elevations. As we mentioned earlier, sprinkler nodes or “flowing nodes” get a K-Factor of 5.60 while all other nodes have a value of 0. This is ALWAYS the case. If you need to “turn off” or remove a sprinkler node, simply change the K-Factor value to 0. Although not shown in the image, make sure to put an elevation on the source (denoted as “SOURCE” in HASS) in the node data entry as well as in the “Source Tag” located above the node data entry. 2. Your routing data is added on the right hand side under “Pipe Data Entry”. You begin by inputting the “pipe tag”. You can leave this as the default numbering (1,2,3…) or you can give it a specific name which is recommended. This is recommended because there will be two or more routes that split from the same starting node. Thus if you were to encounter an error at the starting node, you would not as easily recognize which route contains the error. This method allows you to quickly find the route of interest without looking at starting and ending nodes. This can be seen in the image below as there is a 3 and 3A pipe tag. The starting nodes are the same but the ending nodes of these routes are different. 3. You will then add the starting and ending nodes. This is the route which you are following on the fire sprinkler layout. 4. “Length” is simply the distance between the starting and ending nodes. This length can be determined using Revit, Adobe Acrobat, Bluebeam or any other approved software. It is important to include any elevation changes between nodes in the total length of the run as HASS does not “assume” the elevation changes when the nodes are added in Step 1. 5. Fittings refer to the fixtures such as tee’s, elbows or valves. Typical fixtures are as follows: “E” refers to elbows, “T” refers to tee’s, “G” refers to a gate valve, “B” refers to a butterfly valve and “C” refers to a check valve. It is important to input these accurately as each fixture has a specific fixture unit

which affects the pressure loss through it due to friction. HASS only allows up to 9 fittings to be added, which is another reason why intermediate nodes are needed on long runs. A Flow Control Assembly (FCA) is comprised of several fittings. Input the fixtures of the FCA according to the detail drawing. If unsure, contact a senior engineer or project manager. 6. The “Diameter” is inputted as the diameter of the piping between the start and end node. This must be carefully added as the diameter of the piping changes between branches and mains. 7. “HWC” refers to the Hazen-Williams Coefficient. This is needed for the HASS software to accurately calculate the pressure and flow. This is always inputted as a value of “120”. It is important to note that HASS is not particular if you input your node and pipe data in numerical order. It can be added in any order and will still run as long as you begin and end at the same position. After you have inputted all of you data, you can run the calculation.

4.4 RUNNING THE CALCULATION The calculation is run by clicking the “CALC” button on the top ribbon. This is shown in the image below if you cannot find it. A dialog log box will appear titled “Edit Calculation Criteria”. Leave all entries as defaulted and click “OK”. These entries are set during the installation process.

Another dialog box will appear asking you to “Edit First End-Head Value”. As we mentioned earlier, the minimum pressure required at the most remote head is 7 psig. **The 7 psig is for a standard sprinkler head, other sprinkler heads may have a different pressure requirement. Confirm this value with a senior engineer or your project manager**. This value will then be inputted in the dialog box, as shown in the image below. Once that is completed, click “OK” and the simulation will begin. At the end of the simulation a report will be printed and it can be determined whether the fire sprinkler system will perform according to code or whether adjustments need to be made.

QUICK TIPS

 When there is one head above and one head below an obstruction, only place a node for one of the sprinklers and not both. This is because if a fire were to occur, the heat would either be collected under the obstruction which would activate the sprinkler below OR the heat would rise to activate the sprinkler above the obstruction. Thus, only one sprinkler head is activated and the floor is still protected.

THINGS TO WRITE ABOUT 1) Show sample node labeling 2) Usually only put nodes where flow separates because elbows can be accounted for 3) Only counts up to 9 elbows or tees 4) DON’T DOUBLE COUNT FIXTURES 5) ETCB for flow control assembly 6) Add HELPFUL TIPS SECTION and talk about how only put one node for sprinklers above and below obstruction because one OR the other will go off