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

  • How a Portable Sink Helped an Art Classroom Run More Smoothly

    Classroom design decisions can have outsized effects on instructional time and safety at schools juggling mismatched infrastructure, strict budgets, and crowded schedules — particularly in the arts. Between spilled paint and dirty brushes, art classes run smoother with a sink in the studio. But many schools don’t have a sink in every art classroom.

  • NWEA Report Recommends K–12 Natural Disaster Recovery Strategies

    The Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA), a K–12 assessment and research organization, recently announced the release of a new playbook for schools and communities recovering from extreme weather events, according to a news release.

  • Chartwells Launches Campus Dining Evaluation Framework

    Contract food-service management provider Chartwells Higher Education recently announced the launch of BLUEPRINT, according to a news release. The evaluation framework was designed to provide a data-driven and customizable roadmap towards optimizing campus dining services and, by extension, the student experience.

  • 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.