Before we can design safe exits for a building, we need to know the most critical number: How many people need to get out?
This is called the Occupant Load, and it drives nearly every decision you'll make about exits, doors, corridors, and stairs.
Throughout this chapter, we'll design the complete egress system for a real building:
In a real emergency, occupant load determines how many exits you need, how wide doors and corridors must be, and whether people can escape quickly. Different occupancy types have different densities— a packed retail store needs far more exit capacity than an apartment floor with the same square footage.
Today you'll master IBC Section 1004 and learn to calculate occupant load for any space.