Latest New Emergency Evacuation Safety Egress Exit Technology

Released on = October 4, 2004, 4:04 pm

Press Release Author = Glowmania Group

Industry = Construction

Press Release Summary = New Development in areas of Emergency Evacuation Safety Egress Exit Technology

Press Release Body = New Emergency Evacuation Safety Egress Exit Technology

Earthquakes, natural disasters, acts of terrorism, power failures, fires — they can happen at any time of the day or night Panic and fear can grip us all: September 11th, the power grid failure that shut down the East Coast and Canada, the night club fires, the Chicago County Building fire, California wild fires, the latest hurricanes to lash Florida ... these events illustrated our vulnerabilities. However, through the miracle of technology, we have at our disposal, fail safe systems for the workplace and the home, public and private facilities, mass transit, and the marine industry.
Photoluminescence Comes to the Rescue. Thanks to international ingenuity, these fail safe systems, referred to as photoluminescent, (high-tech, high performance, glow in the dark), Emergency Egress Systems are designed to glow in the dark and are self-activating when the lights go out. They simply absorb and store energy from ambient light until fully charged, usually 10 to 30 minutes, then discharge the energy as light when the ambient lights go out. They are considered fail safe since they do not rely on electricity or batteries and are virtually impervious to malicious tampering. Concerns with backup generators and emergency lighting can be addressed with these products and systems. Basic light strips and exit signs can be used to replace electrified or battery powered emergency lights. These products can be designed as a complete system or as replacements for individual lights and signs. Amazingly, these products will also glow through the white smoke that first fills a building. Organizations such as NFPA, ASTM, ANSI, and UL, all recognize these products and systems. Once installed, the products perform very well during a fire. They also provide a permanent reverse marking system for emergency responders going into and out of a building. We all know that disasters can lurk around every corner. They can happen at anytime, anywhere, and without warning. All of us at one time or another will encounter, deal with disasters in greater or lesser magnitude. Our measure of preparedness dictates how well we weather such storms - do we come out unharmed, or looking like we've been through a major war. Fire is of course, only one consideration. This new alliance can create different emergency paths: one for fire leading people out of a building and another for tornado, hurricane, biological disaster, nuclear incident, or another leading people to an interior area (panic room) for shelter. To address the segments of the population that do not speak English, international symbols are incorporated into these systems to identify routes for each type of incident. The disabled population is also served by this system. Glowmania International has developed such an egress system that incorporates floor proximity tactile cues. The tactile arrows and cross corridor markings located low to the floor will not only help the disabled in heavy smoke conditions, but it will also be of invaluable help to a firefighter who may be disoriented in a building. Glowmania also has many other specialty items that will aid in quick and efficient evacuation of a building in the event of an emergency, such as glow in the dark emergency exit window markings and attractive and easy to read escape plan diagrams, that are used for each classroom in a school as one application for these items. They also have the ability to customize their system to the individual needs of the occupant as well to comply to local and state codes. Photoluminescent products are available in aesthetically pleasing forms such as
carpet, pathway markers, and marble and granite exit signs, terrazzo, ceramic tiles, Safety markers, domes and paint. Glowmania’s creations are the perfect combination of true form and function. Through Safety Guidance Systems, Inc., and Glowmania International, products are found throughout Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago, in many public and private facilities. Strategic Alliance The two companies, Glowmania International and Safety Guidance Systems have developed an alliance to better serve the needs of the public and private sectors and each brings unique strengths to the table. Safety Guidance Systems Inc works with inventors to bring their products and processes into the market place. They design emergency egress routes and utilize the Glowmania products; the crown jewel of their collection. Their other products lines rival the James Bond gadget room. They include a conductive paint that will maintain a constant temperature to melt snow and ice. It also has defensive and cloaking capabilities, air purification systems that will kill 99.9 percent of bacteria and viruses including small pox, nose filters that will filter out anthrax, six-in-one fire extinguishers that will completely extinguish a gasoline file and the treated area will not reignite. Glowmania International is an undisputed leader and producer of the highest performing photoluminescent products in the world. We can have it all — eye catching, extremely high performance products, that will glow for more than 12 hours per charge. With their commitment to excellence, they have also created glow-in-the-dark reflective numbers available for the doors of apartments, classrooms, and offices, and have developed a new system for the residential market. All of these signs comply with the international fire code, as well as codes in such states as New York, whose city is in the process of adopting a new code. With the new collaboration, companies have the ability to customize their systems to the
individual needs of the occupant as well as comply to local and state codes. Planning for the Worst All of these extremes fall within the realm of security, disaster planning. All levels of disaster must be examined, thought out, discussed, planned, implemented, and most importantly, tested over and over again. No one can completely guarantee safety 100 percent of the time, however these systems act as a safety net; they are fully operational and fully functional when you need them.
We are all aware of the recent tragedy in a night club in Rhode Island. We will never forget the graphic videos of people jammed in the front door in a panic to get
out of the inferno that was going on inside. The club did comply with the required exit code and it had adequate exits. People have a tendency to leave the same way they came into an area. Given the rapid spread of the fire and quick accumulation of smoke, most of the occupants did not notice that there were any other exits in the building and the majority headed for the front door. Looking at this and other
tragedies such as the Happy Land Supper Club fire in New York, we see a need for two things. One is the enforcement of codes such as announcing and pointing out exits before proceeding with any public assembly event and secondly to develop new technology that will make exits more apparent to the public. Seventy-three percent of deaths in fires in buildings are caused by smoke. Fires can produce dense smoke that can quickly fill buildings from the ceiling down within minutes. Many accidents can happen when people try to evacuate buildings during power failures and fires, when lighting is limited or no longer available. Even emergency back up power can fail. A simple long-persistence Photoluminescent Emergency Egress System, marking out escape routes can make an important contribution to people's abilities to find their way out of a building quickly, efficiently and above all safely. Reports show that on Sept. 11, 2001, a high percentage of the occupants in the Twin Towers who escaped the collapse can attribute their escape, at least in part, to the placement of photoluminescent paint and markings on the egress paths and the training programs implemented following the bombing of the World Trade center in 1993. Long-Persistence Photoluminescent Emergency Egress Systems Contribute to Safety Security Making the most of long-persistence Photoluminescent emergency egress system can contribute to security, human safety in circumstances in which there is:
1) Reduced lighting or smoke from fires in buildings
2) Where there are way finding difficulties
3) Where not all routes are familiar to the majority of building users

The effectiveness of Photoluminescent materials are appraised in relation to
electrical lighting systems. Although not yet introduced fully into all codes and standards, recent research and development work in USA, Great Britain Germany and Sweden suggests that a Photoluminescent Escape System, if correctly applied, can be more effective and efficient than standard emergency lighting in terms of maintenance, costs and as an aid to safe evacuation. Since Sept. 11, 2001, we have all become more aware of this technology, of which most of us were not aware even existed until the emergency occurred. Many who lived through the Sept. 11th attacks contribute their escape from the towers to Photoluminescent markings, which were installed in the stairwell of both towers since the 1993 Bombing of the world trade center. Occupants could benefit from additional wayguidance information to efficiently move to safety, especially when evacuating during a power failure or in smoke conditions. Installing a Photoluminescent Material wayguidance system along evacuation routes appears to be a potential means of improving occupants' fire safety. A Photoluminescent system consists of signage elements that can be installed in the form of signs, paint, strips or fabric on any surface. The particularity of this nonradioactive material is that it contains cyrstals, which have the capacity to store, in a few minutes, the energy from normal lighting. The material will restore
this energy as a yellowish-green glow when all lights are extinguished or reduced. The initial bright glow emitted by the material will gradually diminish in brightness, but will remain visible for three to 40 hours, depending upon the type
of material used. Potential Benefits If properly installed, a Photoluminescent wayguidance system can provide orientation and confidence to evacuating occupants. Also, if installed as a continuous strip, Photoluminescent Systems can assist orderly and speedy evacuations in blackout conditions and in heavy smoke. Photoluminescent Systems are totally reliable, provided it has been exposed to proper lighting to become fully charged. Further, Photoluminescent Systems can be set up in new or existing buildings, is simple and economical to install and requires a minimum of maintenance. Exit signs, pathway marking systems and path markers are all considered life safety devices and they all seem to do pretty much the same thing — help you find your way out. Markings for the means or paths of egress in buildings may consist of Photoluminescent exit signs according to UL924 Standard; exit signs and pathway marking systems; or exit signs, pathway marking systems, and pathway markers. While exit signs are required by codes, pathway marking systems and path markers are, for the most part, optional. In addition, path markers are used only with pathway marking systems and are not intended to serve as exit signs. New codes require exit signs to not only be above the egress area but also to be
slightly above floor level. There are also handicap accommodations that need to be built in to exit systems. Realizing that these new exit requirements will be costly due to the wiring, since they must be wired on their own separate circuit and that
they need to be maintained constantly by changing light bulbs, etc., they will then
be costly. This factor will bring about objections from contractors due to the labor intensive cost of wiring these signs. Objections will also be made by building
owners who must maintain these systems. Code Enforcement Officials can all attest to the common findings on routine fire inspections involving exit signs. There is often wiring problems with the standard exit sign but most often a bulb or two is burned out or missing. Other times the signs are unreadable due to age as well as the heat
of the bulbs fading the lettering over time and home made replacement lens es are slid into to the frames in order to save money. A solution to all of these concerns has been developed. How about a glow in the dark egress system that uses no electricity or light bulbs to operate? What about an egress system that can be installed with a screwdriver? Can you imagine such a system that would incorporate floor proximity tactile cues for the handicapped? Picture an egress system that would be beneficial to firefighters who are often times in a burning building and may find themselves in distress when the entire electrical system is not functioning and the conventional egress system is useless to them. The material used meets NFPA 101 Class A Life Safety Code and also meets and exceeds the following standards and specifications:
• ASTM 2072 Luminance
• ASTM 162 Surface Flammability
• ASTM E 662 Specific Optical Density
• ASTM 648 Critical Radiant Flux
• ASTM E 84 Surface Burning Characteristics
• IMO A 752.18 Adhesion after temperature, Humidity Cycling,
• Shrinkage, Chemical Resistance, Liner Removal,
• Tensile and Elongation
• This material is also warranted for 25 years (internal application) with the expected performance life exceeding 25 years. As mentioned earlier in this article
it is also UL listed. It is comforting to know that new, quality, code conforming, practical and economical technology that vastly improves Safe emergency evacuation egress systems is not a thing of the future but is here today and is readily available. This technology will save lives and prevent injuries to civilians and firefighters and it behooves architects, engineers, builders and all those who are in the construction business as well as the fire service to be proactive in promoting products such as
these that will, I repeat, save lives and prevent injuries to civilians and firefighters. We need only to remember the recent tragedy in Rhode Island to know the job we all need to do.
Further information please visit Glowmania International Website at
http://www.glowmania-international.com
http://www.photoluminescent-safety.com

Web Site = http://www.glowmania-international.com

Contact Details = Glowmania International Ltd
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53950, MEXICO
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Email: enquiry@glowmania-international.com