Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

A NEW WAY OF IMPLEMENTING SAFETY

  • 08/01/04

Here's the way schools traditionally have implemented life/fire safety products. The school would apply to the state, which had contracted with a number of vendors who then, in turn, provide the school with the needed devices. But, there's now a trend to go about this process in an entirely different way. Nick Martello, product manager for Northford, Conn.-based, Fire Lite Alarm, part of the Honeywell Fire Group, explains it through the following case study.


The School District of Greenville County is the largest public school system in South Carolina and the 63rd largest school system in the nation. This county has been the recipient of one of the state's most ambitious building initiatives — a five-year construction and renovation project that will encompass 72 schools. To date, 17 schools have opened with the rest slated for completion in 2006 at a cost of about $862 million.


Instead of going through the state, the district outsourced all of the fire protection and security technology to a local construction management consortium, International Resources, which worked with Blue Ridge Security Systems, a systems integrator based in Anderson, S.C., which in turn recommended fire protection technology from Fire Lite.


Fire Lite's addressable alarm system, pinpoints the source of the fire within the school, the central station and fire station, with all of the audio/visual components. It combines the different types of detection,iiii as well as provides a signal when maintenance is needed.


An advantage for the school district, Martello says, is "instead of dealing with multiple vendors it has to relate to just one company that manages the entire process."


Featured

  • Armstrong World Industries Acquires Parallel Architectural Products

    Armstrong World Industries, provider of interior and exterior architectural applications, recently announced that it has acquired the Colorado-based Parallel Architectural Products, according to a news release.

  • Round Rock ISD Completes New Early College High School

    Round Rock ISD near Austin, Texas, recently announced that construction is complete on a new, 46,500-square-foot campus for Early College High School, according to a news release. The new facility will allow the school’s students and staff to move from portables into a permanent building and increase its enrollment to 500.

  • Northeastern University Breaks Ground on New Housing Community

    Northeastern University recently announced the groundbreaking of a new student housing community on its campus in Boston, Mass., according to a news release. The university is partnering with American Campus Communities (ACC) for development of the project, which will have the capacity for 1,200 students and has a scheduled completion date of fall 2028.

  • Illinois State University Breaks Ground on College of Fine Arts Transformation

    Illinois State University in Normal, Ill., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts transformation project, according to university news. The series of new constructions and renovations will upgrade spaces in Centennial East, the Center for the Visual Arts, and the Center for the Performing Arts, as well as replace the existing Centennial West facility with a new Commons Building.