DR. JOHN H KLOTE, P.E.

Biographical Data

Education
B.S.
M.S.
D.Sc.

1967
1978
1986

University of Michigan
George Washington University
George Washington University

Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering

Experience
Fire and Smoke Consulting, November 1997 to Present:
John Klote has formed a company, John H. Klote, Inc. that uses the results of research to provide
consulting services to fire protection engineers, mechanical engineers and code officials concerning
practical solutions to various fire protection problems. Areas of consulting include pressurized
stairwells, pressurized elevators, zoned smoke control, atrium smoke management, and elevator use
during fires. Work consists of system design, design review and teaching courses about smoke
management including computer modeling.
Dr. Klote has performed smoke control analysis for many design projects including elevator
pressurization. Many such analyses include tenability calculations. He has worked with a
manufacturing firm testing the water leakage of elevator doors.
He has taught a number of short courses for in various aspects of smoke management for private
organizations and for ASHRAE and SFPE. He is the primary author of the book Principles of
Smoke Management jointly published in 2002 by ASHRAE and SFPE.
Over the past 24 years Dr. Klote has worked to make the results of research available for practical
application by participation in numerous ASHRAE and NFPA committees. He is a member of
NFPA, a fellow of SFPE and a fellow of ASHRAE.
National Institute of Standards and Technology, 1978 to October 1997:
Dr. Klote was a Project Leader at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in
Gaithersburg, Maryland. He conducted numerous research projects in the areas of smoke
management, smoke movement and elevator use during fires. Techniques used by Klote include
full-scale fire experiments, field tests, and computer simulations. The full-scale fire experiments
included those at the Plaza Hotel in Washington DC, that demonstrated the effectiveness of smoke
control and provided insight into the interaction of smoke control and fire growth. Methods of
computer simulation include network flow modeling, zone fire modeling and computational fluid
dynamics (CFD).
He is the primary author of the book Design of Smoke Management Systems jointly published in
1992 by ASHRAE and SFPE. Klote headed the group that procured the first commercial CFD
model for fire simulations at NIST, and he used that model to study smoke detector activation in the
presence of HVAC induced airflow.
Dr. Klote was part of a joint research project with the National Research Council of Canada
(NRCC) to study the feasibility of various approaches to elevator smoke control. During this project
Dr. Klote and George Tamura of NRCC developed an analysis of elevator piston effect which was
validated by experiments conducted by NRCC. He also studied the feasibility of elevator smoke
control in a project sponsored by the Veterans Administration (to become the Department of
Veterans Affairs). Dr. Klote studied the feasibility of using elevators for emergency evacuation in

separate projects sponsored by GSA and the FAA. He conducted joint research with the National
Elevator Industry Inc. (NEII) to study the water leakage in elevator systems intended for emergency
evacuation. Klote's research was the basis of the 1997 revision to the NFPA Life Safety Code
(section 5-2.13) allowing elevators to be used as a second means of egress from towers.
Klote acted as a consultant in the area of smoke movement for the investigations of the MGM
Grand fire and the First Interstate Bank fire. Klote played important roles in the development of
NFPA smoke management documents (NFPA 92A and 92B).
Naval Facilities Engineering Command, 1967 to 1978:
At the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), he was involved in the design of
mechanical systems for buildings including HVAC systems, and he established worldwide criteria
within the Navy for such systems. During his last four years with NAVFAC, Klote was the senior
cost engineer for the design and construction of the new Bethesda Naval Hospital and the tri-service
medical university at Bethesda.

Professional Registration
Mechanical Engineering: District of Columbia, and Delaware.

Honors & Awards

Dr. Klote has received numerous honors and awards including ASHRAE Distinguished Lecturer
(1998 2000), Keynote Speaker at CIBSE/ASHRAE Smoke Control Seminar (London England
1998), ASHRAE best paper awards (1993, 1992, 1991 and 1989), and several awards from NIST.

Professional Affiliations
Dr. Klote has participated in a large number of ASHRAE, SFPE and NFPA committees that pertain
to fire and smoke management, and he has been chairman of a number of these.

Publications
Dr. Klote has authored over 80 publications including books, chapters in books, papers and
articles on smoke management, and other aspects of fire protection. Some of these publications
are listed below.
Books:
Klote, J. H. and Milke, J. A., Principles of Smoke Management, ASHRAE, Atlanta, GA, and SFPE,
Boston, MA, 2002.
Evans, D. H. and Klote, J. H., Smoke Control provisions of the 200 IBC, International Code Council,
Country Club Hills, IL, 2003.
Klote, J.H. and Milke, J. A., Design of Smoke Management Systems, ASHRAE, Atlanta, GA, and
SFPE, Boston, MA, 1992.
Klote, J.H. and Fothergill, J.W., Design of Smoke Control Systems for Buildings, ASHRAE, Atlanta,
GA, 1983.
Chapters in Books:
Klote, J.H., Chapter 14: Building Fires and Smoke Management, Indoor Air Quality Handbook,
McGraw Hill, New York, 2001.
Klote, J.H., Nelson, H.E., Section 7; Chapter 6: Smoke Movement in Buildings, Fire Protection
Handbook, 18th Edition. National Fire Protection Association. NFPA, Quincy, MA, 7/93-104 pp.,
1997.
Klote, J. H., Section 4; Chapter 12: Smoke Control. SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering.
2nd Edition. National Fire Protection Assoc., Quincy, MA, pp. 4/230-245, 1995.

Klote, J.H., Chapter 2 Sections 2.1-2.12: Control of Smoke and Combustion Products, Fire Safety in
Tall Buildings, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 1992.
Other Publications:
Klote, J. H. 2002. Review of CFD Analysis of Smoke Management Systems, ASHRAE
Transactions, Vol. 108, Part 1.
Klote, J. H. 2002. Smoke Management Applications of CONTAM. ASHRAE Transactions, Vol. 108,
Part 2.
Klote, J. H. 2000. Computer Modeling for Smoke Control, Seminar on Smoke Control and
Management, June 9, 2000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Klote, J. H. 1999. An Engineering Approach to Tenability Systems for Atrium Smoke Management,
ASHRAE Transactions, Vol. 105, Part 1, pp. 716-729. Klote, J. H. 1997. Prediction of Smoke
Movement in Atria: Part I. Physical Concepts, ASHRAE Transactions, Vol. 103, Part 2.
Klote, J. H. 1997. Prediction of Smoke Movement in Atria: Part II. Application to Smoke
Management, ASHRAE Transactions, Vol. 103, Part 2.
Klote, J. H. 1995. An Overview of Smoke Control Research, ASHRAE Transactions, Vol. 101, Part
1.
Klote, J. H. 1995. Design of Smoke Control Systems for Elevator Fire Evacuation Including Wind
Effects, 2nd Symposium on Elevators, Fire, and Accessibility, Baltimore, MD April 19-21, 1995,
ASME, New York.
Klote, J. H., Levin, B. M., Groner, N. E. 1995. Emergency Elevator Evacuation Systems, 2nd
Symposium on Elevators, Fire, and Accessibility, Baltimore, MD April 19-21, 1995, ASME, New
York.
Klote, J. H. 1995. Design of Smoke Control Systems for Elevator Fire Evacuation Including Wind
Effects, 2nd Symposium on Elevators, Fire, and Accessibility, Baltimore, MD April 19-21, 1995,
ASME, New York.
Klote, J. H. 1994. Fire and Smoke Control: An Historical Perspective, ASHRAE Journal, Vol. 36,
No. 7, pp. 46-50.
Klote, J. H. 1994. Method of Predicting Smoke Movement in Atria With Application to Smoke
Management, National Institute of Standards and Technology, NISTIR 5516.
Klote, J. H., Levin, B. M. and Groner, N. E. 1994. Feasibility of Fire Evacuation by Elevators at FAA
Control Towers, National Institute of Standards and Technology, NISTIR 5445.
Klote, J. H. and Forney, G. P. 1993. Zone Fire Modeling With Natural Building Flows and a Zero
Order Shaft Model, National Institute of Standards and Technology, NISTIR 5251.
Klote, J. H. 1993. A Method for Calculation of Elevator Evacuation Time, Journal of Fire Protection
Engineering, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 83-96.
Klote, J. H. 1993. Design of Smoke Control Systems for Areas of Refuge, ASHRAE Transactions,
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers, Atlanta, GA, Vol. 99,
Part 2, pp. 793-807.
Klote, J. H., Deal, S. P., Levin, B. M., Groner, N. E., and Donoghue, E. A. 1992. Workshop on
Elevator Use During Fires, National Institute of Standards and Technology, NISTIR 4993.
Klote, J. H. and Alvord, D. M. 1992. Routine for Analysis of the People Movement Time for
Elevator Evacuation, National Institute of Standards and Technology, NISTIR 4730.
Klote, J. H., Nelson, H. E., Deal, S., Levin, B. M. 1992. Staging Areas for Persons with Mobility
Limitations, National Institute of Standards and Technology, NISTIR 4770.

Klote, J. H., Alvord, D. M., Levin, B. M., and Groner, N. E. 1992. Feasibility and Design
Considerations of Emergency Evacuation by Elevators, National Institute of Standards and
Technology, NISTIR 4870.
Klote, J. H. and Tamura, G. T. 1991. Design of Elevator Smoke Control Systems for Fire Evacuation,
ASHRAE Transactions, Vol. 97, Part 2, pp. 634-642.
Klote, J. H. 1990. Fire Experiments of Zoned Smoke Control at the Plaza Hotel in Washington DC,
ASHRAE Transactions, Vol. 96, Part 2, pp. 397-416.
Klote, J. H. and Cooper, L. Y. 1989. Model of a Simple Fan-Resistance Ventilation System and its
Application to Fire Modeling, National Institute of Standards and Technology, NISTIR 89-4141.
Klote, J. H. and Tamura, G. T. 1987. Experiments of Piston Effect on Elevator Smoke Control,
ASHRAE Transactions, Vol. 93, Part 2, pp. 2217-2228.
Klote, J. H. and Tamura, G. T. 1986. Elevator Piston Effect and the Smoke Problem, Fire Safety
Journal, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 227-233.
Klote, J. H. and Tamura, G. T. 1986. Smoke Control and Fire Evacuation by Elevators, ASHRAE
Transactions, Vol. 92, Part 1A, pp. 231-245.
Klote, J. H. and Bodart, X. 1985. Validation of Network Models for Smoke Control Analysis,
ASHRAE Transactions, Vol. 91, Part 2b, pp. 1134-1145.
Klote, J. H. 1984. Smoke Control for Elevators, ASHRAE Journal, Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 23-33.
Klote, J. H. and Fothergill, J. W. 1983. Design of Smoke Control Systems for Buildings, American
Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers, Atlanta, GA.
Klote, J. H. 1983. Elevators as a means of Fire Escape, ASHRAE Transactions, Vol. 89, Part 1B, pp.
362-378.
Klote, J. H. 1981. A Computer Program for Analysis of Pressurized Stairwells and Pressurized
Elevator Shafts, National Bureau of Standards, NBSIR 80-2157.