Consulting-Specifying Engineer - August 2007 - (Page 23)

(Continued from page 20) GIANNINI: The answer is yes. The need for emergency communications capability is increasing, in all markets and applications. Fire alarm systems that provide voice evacuation capability can immediately raise the effectiveness of an organization’s emergency preparedness to communicate to building occupants during a crisis. CSE: What integration suggestions do you have for the case of a large addition to an existing building? CASAMASSIMA: Due to technology advances during the last decade and new ANSI 9th Edition regulatory requirements, the building owner should consider replacing either or both the control equipment, fire sensors and modules if the existing system is older than 10 years. Otherwise work with the current system’s distributor to determine whether the existing infrastructure can accept additional devices and control equipment. GIANNINI: The project should be planned so that it includes a retrofit that will bring the safety and security systems in the existing portion of the building to the same level as those being installed in the new construction area. This means integrating fully the fire alarm, access control, video, communications—and where needed, building control systems—into one information management platform. A central command location that pulls data from all these systems into a cohesive incident management tool raises exponentially the emergency preparedness capability of the site. GRILL: The most important suggestion is that you not jump to a conclusion on the approach before looking at the options. In older buildings, the existing systems are often difficult to expand or integrate with new technology. The best solution is often to design the new equipment to take over as the controlling equipment. Timing is everything with fire safety equipment. Maintaining existing functionality to allow for continued operation is often a primary goal. This can require the installation of parallel equipment with a scheduled change over to limit any potential interruptions. CONVERY: If the existing systems are original to the building or use outdated technology and the budget allows, try upgrading the existing systems. Avoiding the challenges of interfacing new equipment with antiquated systems or maintaining multi-systems must be considered. There will be an up-front cost for system upgrades, but the benefits may be costeffective. A cost-benefit analysis may be advantageous. CSE: What guidance can you offer regarding multilingual alarm notification systems? CASAMASSIMA: There is no question that there are areas in the United States where multilingual notification systems are becoming a must. English- and Spanish–language systems are the most common, but the audio portion of the majority of today’s fire systems allow for the pre-recording of various audio messages in any language. CONVERY: I would recommend against multilingual alarm systems. Upon actuation of the building fire alarm system, occupant notification begins. Several rounds of a recorded message are transmitted to the occupants. Each transmittal round can take 10 to 15 seconds per round. If four transmittal rounds of notification in English is broadcast, then four rounds in a second language and finally four rounds in a third language are broadcast, the delay between languages can be significant and lead to panic among occupants. GRILL: This is a building specific issue that should be considered in the design and specification phases. Some public buildings that are designed to draw occupants from a broad range of countries are being designed with a library of announcements in many different languages. The time required to communicate information needs to be considered if announcements are going to be made in a variety of languages. Lifeline products are manufactured with ceramification technology to produce two hour fire rated cables qualified to the most demanding standards. This results in the best and most economical method of protecting critical circuits against attack by fire and physical damage during evacuation and crisis resolution. For more details and an informative fact sheet, plus video of the UL burn test, visit www.drakausa.com/lifeline or call your Lifeline Representative 800-333-4248 ext. 2600 Draka Cableteq USA • 800.333.4248 ext.2600 • www.drakausa.com/lifeline Input #217 at csemag.com/quickResponse http://www.drakausa.com/lifeline http://www.drakausa.com/lifeline http://www.drakausa.com/lifeline http://csemag.com/quickResponse

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Consulting-Specifying Engineer - August 2007

Contents M/E Roundtable Giants 100 Pullout Poster Giants Stand Tall: CSE Giants 100 Report Electrical Design for Tall Buildings HVAC and Fire Safety for Elevator Systems How to Beat the Codes GAS Technology Supplement Recovering Waste Heat from Boilers New Applications for Tankless Water Heating Systmes Techniques Improve for Powder Coating MDF New Tools Available for Heat Treating Steel Direct Drive Engines

Consulting-Specifying Engineer - August 2007

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