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

  • University of Oklahoma Announces New Campus Master Plan

    The University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., recently announced that it will soon launch a new, comprehensive Campus Master Plan to guide the campus’ physical development during the next decade, according to a news release.

  • Universities Continue to Launch Multimillion-Dollar Campus Transformations

    What makes the current wave of campus development especially noteworthy is its emphasis on multi-use functionality and community integration. Institutions are no longer investing solely in academic or athletic facilities in isolation. Instead, they are creating destinations that blend recreation, health, housing, and event-driven economic activity.

  • A digital silhouette works at a computer, immersed in a glowing, interconnected world

    How Will AI Transform Learning Space Design?

    For years, higher education has designed learning spaces around technology as a tool for display, capture, collaboration, and connectivity. AI changes that equation.

  • Surging Demand for Student Housing Fuels Major Campus Investment Opportunities

    University leaders throughout the U.S. are accelerating plans to modernize and expand student housing as enrollment stabilizes and demand for on-campus living rebounds. Recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicates that total postsecondary enrollment is projected to grow through the end of the decade, with undergraduate enrollment alone expected to increase by more than 8 percent by 2030.