Building Drainage System Design for Tall Buildings: Current Limitations and Public Health Implications

National design guides provide essential guidance for the of building drainage systems, which primarily ensure basic objectives preventing odor ingress and cross-transmission disease through water-trap seal retention. Current system only extend to buildings 30 floors, while modern tall frequently over 100 exceeding predictive capability current in terms operating conditions. However, same are being used as would be low-rise buildings. A complicating factor is historic roots standards (including interpretation governing fluid mechanics principles margins safety), causing many differences exist conditions internationally, such minimum trap retention requirements, stack-to-vent cross-vent spacing, even stack diameter. The also differ size scale systems they cover, most make no allowance specific requirements This paper assesses limitations applying when applied case Primarily, assessments this research based on codes from Europe, USA Australia/New Zealand representative common approaches other derived. numerical simulation model, AIRNET, was analysis tool. Our findings confirm that guides, have been out date a number decades, now urgent need updating code-compliant shown susceptible depletion, risk disease, major public health concern, particularly view COVID-19 pandemic.