DIN 18009-2 – a New German Standard on Evacuation Simulation

After more than eight years of intensive work, the second part of the German DIN 18009 standard on "Simulation of evacuation and personal safety" was published in August 2022. The DIN 18009 series offers a guideline for fire protection engineering for Germany. The first part "Principles and application rules" was published in 2016, with further parts describing standards for smoke simulation and safety concepts to follow. This marks a milestone in the application of simulation models in the safety context for Germany. This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of prescriptive guidelines and performance-based engineering methods in the context of building evacuation. Furthermore, aspects of the application of the DIN 18009-2 are highlighted, and what challenges are still to be tackled and how. This includes in particular the choice and definition of scenarios and performance criteria.