Doors, louvers, and other openings in the exterior envelope should be designed so that the anchorage into the supporting structure has a lateral capacity greater than that of the element. There are two general recommendations for doors.
- Doors should open outward so that they bear against the jamb during
the positive-pressure phase of the air-blast loading.
- Door jambs can be filled with concrete to improve their resistance.
For louvers that provide air to sensitive equipment, some recommendations are given below.
- Provide a baffle in front of the louver so that the air blast does not have direct line-of-sight access through the louver.
- Provide a grid of steel bars properly anchored into the structure behind the louver to catch any debris generated by the louver or other flying fragments.