ABSTRACT Life safety can be dramatically improved during a fire by prudent use of pressurization equipment to clear smoke from occupied spaces and escape routes within the structure. Air handling equipment can be utilized to manage and control the route that smoke takes during a fire and thereby improve the air quality within the building and at the same time provide greater time for occupants to escape. The issue of life safety is particularly important in ultra high-rise structures that are being planned and are currently being built throughout the world. A smoke control software package is used to examine the interacting factors that affect smoke movement in high-rise structures with the overall objective of determining the practicality of using air-handling equipment to pressurize occupant spaces in order to keep smoke out and provide a safe area to survive the fire. Exterior and interior building construction and fire conditions are examined to determine conditions which provide a successful smoke management plan in a highrise structure. A selective floor pressurization scheme is proposed that reduces the capacity and number of air handling units needed to pressurize the high-rise structure.