NFPA Journal - October 2016 Home Fire Sprinkler Special Issue - 55

FEATURE
HOMEBUILDERS AND HOME FIRE SPRINKLERS

reduce land development costs for developers, reduce construction
costs for builders, and reduce the cost of increased life and property
protection for home buyers.
The best time to take advantage of the trade-up concept for subdivision development savings is prior to submitting subdivision plans.
When proper subdivision and development options are provided,
development costs can be reduced. The cost of developing raw land
into an approved building site can be significantly reduced through
trade-ups. These options are only applicable if all the buildings in
the development will have built-in automatic fire protection.
Potential common trade-up options associated with home
sprinklers include the following:
» Street width reduction, which can substantially reduce the
amount of pavement in every linear foot of street in the
development
» Longer dead-end streets, which allow additional building lots to
be accessed
» Tee turnarounds, which can create at least one additional lot per
cul-de-sac
» Increased street grades and building setbacks
» Additional units; increases up to 20 percent are not uncommon
» Water supply reduction: Fire flows for fully sprinklered developments can be greatly reduced compared to non-sprinklered
developments
» Increased hydrant spacing and reduced supply mains
Over time, communities with fully sprinklered developments
should see a decrease in fire death rates and property loss. In the
event of a fire, sprinklers often extinguish the flames before the
local fire department arrives on the scene. According to the Home
Fire Sprinkler Coalition, the average fire loss in a home with sprinklers is $2,166 vs. $45,019 in a home without sprinklers. Customers
may also qualify for a tax rebate and a discount on the fire portion

minutes

Amount of time
to collapse for
lightweightconstruction floor
assemblies

19
minutes

Amount of time
to collapse for
floor assemblies built with
"legacy" building
materials, in fire
tests conducted
by Underwriters
Laboratories

1.35

Amount it costs
homebuilders to
install sprinklers in
new construction,
per sprinklered
square foot.

20%

Estimated
percentage
increase in the
number of units
that can be built
in a sprinklered
development
p Bullish on home fire sprinklers: Florida home builder Sam Davis.

of their homeowner's insurance policy.
Another option to explore
is building code alternatives,
which might include a reduction in fire-rated portioning
requirements between the
living spaces of the home
and other spaces, such as an
attached garage.
Communities across the
country are offering incentives for homes protected
with fire sprinklers. New
Jersey has a law that eliminates the standby fees for
stand-alone fire service water
lines of two inches or less.
Altamonte Springs, Florida,
allows a 40 percent credit
against the water connection
charge for residences with
sprinklers, and Scottsdale,
Arizona, and other communities allow reduced fire hydrant
spacing requirements.
In addition to their lifesafety and property-protection benefits, fire sprinklers
reduce local infrastructure
costs and provide environmental benefits. Research
confirms that sprinklers play
a significant role in reducing
water use and greenhouse
gas emissions during house
fires. A 2010 study conducted
by FM Global and the Home
Fire Sprinkler Coalition
investigated the environmental impact of burning two
identical structures, one with
sprinklers and one without.
Researchers quantified air and
water pollutants as well as
water released from sprinklers and firefighter hoses.
The study concluded that a
sprinklered home can reduce
water usage to fight a fire
by upward of 90 percent. In

OCTOBER 2016 NFPA JOURNAL

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - October 2016 Home Fire Sprinkler Special Issue