Goodhead Consulting Engineers LLC

Goodhead works with designers to translate an owner's vision into a code-compliant building without sacrificing form or function. When building and fire codes introduce constraints, it identifies pathways that preserve design intent and protect occupant safety - enabling elements such as multi-story spiral staircases and open canopy structures at major airports.

Goodhead applies the history, interpretations, physics, chemistry, and mathematics behind building and fire code requirements - not just their literal words. Its engineers participate on code-writing committees and provide advanced analysis training to authorities, guiding projects to an optimum balance of safety, design, and cost.

• Code Interpretation and Grey-Area Analysis
• Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) Coordination

Where prescriptive code requirements limit design outcomes or fall short of optimal safety, Goodhead develops performance-based alternatives grounded in fire dynamics and egress science. This process evaluates available safe egress time against required egress time, often yielding higher design quality, simplified building systems, and reduced construction costs.

• Fire Dynamics Modeling
• Smoke Management Analysis

AHJ negotiation support for code-compliant outcomes that satisfy stakeholder, jurisdictional, and safety requirements.

• AHJ Negotiation Strategy
• Jurisdictional Code Alignment
• Stakeholder Resolution

Understanding human behavior in emergencies is central to sound fire and life safety design. Goodhead applies occupant movement models to optimize smoke management exhaust rates, improve normal-use circulation flow, and evaluate response in fire, armed aggressor, severe weather, and other emergency scenarios.

• Emergency Evacuation Analysis
• Active Aggressor and Emergency Scenario Planning

Fire-code value management that reduces construction cost, recovers usable space, lowers maintenance burden, and maintains required safety levels.

• Construction Cost Reduction
• Usable Space Recovery
• Maintenance Cost Reduction
• Safety-Level Preservation

When processes and assets cost tens of millions of dollars, protection must address both people and property. Goodhead brings hands-on experience with rocketry, combustible dust, flammable and combustible liquids, aerosols, and high-voltage equipment to develop site-specific risk mitigation solutions.

• Combustible Dust and Flammable Liquid Hazard Analysis
• High-Voltage Equipment Protection