Whether you are new to fire and life safety or you’re an industry veteran, hone your skills with System Sensor training. Training is provided in three formats to accommodate your preference and schedule: online training, webinars and seminars.

Because you’re busy, System Sensor provides online training options for whenever you have time. If you are after product information, then the online courses offer self-training options to enhance your product and application knowledge for use in the field. Courses cover a wide range of subjects, including product overviews, installation and maintenance, and legislation. Because we frequently add training modules, check to see what’s new at www.systemsensor.com/training.

System Sensor webinars are another flexible option. These are live sessions scheduled at multiple time offerings. You can also choose to review our archived sessions whenever time allows at www.systemsensor.com/webinars. These webinars provide relevant and timely information on products, market trends, and legislation. The live sessions enable you to have your questions answered from the comfort of your home or office.

Finally, System Sensor seminars give you direct training on a variety of topics — live — from the most knowledgeable fire system and life safety experts. Seminars are free to attend, often provide CEU credits, and enable you to interact directly with the instructor. These seminars focus on fire alarm systems, HVAC/sprinkler systems, code review, detection technologies, and A/V design and placement, as well as technologies that can be incorporated into fire protection. Check to see when and where seminars will be held at www.systemsensor.com/seminars.

Founded 26 years ago, Phoenix Children’s Hospital is one of the 10 largest children’s hospitals in the nation. The hospital currently covers over 40 pediatric specialties and provides health care to some of the sickest children in Arizona.

In order to meet the pediatric bed needs and health services requirements of a rapidly expanding metro Phoenix population base, the hospital began a $588 million expansion and renovation of its facilities in 2008. A main goal of this build-out will be to increase licensed beds from the current 345 to 626 by 2012.

Amongst other additions and renovations, the campus will feature a new 685,000 square foot, 11-story patient tower, three new parking structures adding about 1,750 parking spaces, a covered playground for patients and their siblings, and an 18-unit Ronald McDonald House to provide housing for patients’ families. In addition, the entire build-out will be supported by a new 30,000-squarefoot, two-level central energy plant and logistics building.

Once all renovations are completed, Phoenix Children’s Hospital will be the largest freestanding children’s hospital in the nation.

Providing a fire protection system for such a large project will be a complicated and difficult task. The project requires installing the latest, most advanced fire protection technology available for the renovated and new structures, such as the patient tower, and integrating this new technology with the hospital’s legacy systems in order to create a single, cohesive system that provides the highest level of fire protection possible.

Appropriately, the process for choosing the fire system contractor was very demanding. As Tim Snow, general manager of Detection Logic Arizona, put it, “To win this job, the contractor would have to provide the right credentials, the right product offering, and the ability to support the system in the future.”

The Right Credentials

The first stage of the process began in March 2008 with the fire alarm Request for Qualifications (RFQ) sent out to several vendors representing each of the three fire system manufacturers approved for the project. The RFQ included a general overview of the project and a proposed project schedule.

Key information requested in the RFQ included company size, engineering/staff qualifications, completed hospital or similar projects, and project backlog through the proposed Phoenix Children’s Hospital project schedule. Based on the information they provided in vendor responses to the RFQ, the project management team winnowed the candidate list down to three vendors, each representing one of the approved manufacturers. Mainly due to its engineering qualifications and expertise and its ability to demonstrate several successful installations of fire systems in large hospitals, the team chose Detection Logic as the vendor to represent NOTIFIER^®, an approved manufacturer.

The Right Products

Even for Detection Logic, which has extensive experience in installing fire systems for large applications, winning the project came down to several other factors — most significantly its system design proposal.  The winning submittal had to demonstrate that the design and product selection could best meet all the challenging technology and performance requirements of Phoenix Children’s Hospital while keeping system, installation, and ongoing operational costs down.

For example, the existing fire system for Phoenix Children’s Hospital is based on Edwards Systems Technology (EST) products. As a NOTIFIER vendor, Detection Logic would be required to integrate any proposed NOTIFIER technology with the existing EST-based fire system.

To integrate the legacy EST and new NOTIFIER systems, Detection Logic proposed connecting each panel through an Echelon^® fiber optic network to an ONYXWorks™ workstation from NOTIFIER in a UL-864-listed configuration.

“The ONYXWorks Monitoring and Integration System is the only system available capable of integrating all of Phoenix Children’s Hospital legacy and proposed systems,” said Fred Lovato, engineering manager at Detection Logic. For Phoenix Children’s Hospital, these systems could include fire alarm systems, security systems, card access systems, CCTV systems, central station receivers for outlying buildings with no connectivity, and any systems with dry contacts that must be monitored.

Along with the Echelon backbone with ONYXWorks, the proposal included NOTIFIER network panels and detection and notification devices from System Sensor, including intelligent photoelectric smoke detectors, SpectrAlert^® Advance chimes and strobes, and speakers and speaker strobes for voice evacuation. “With their ability to communicate clear, intelligible messages that meet the updated NFPA intelligibility requirements, SpectrAlert Advance speakers and speaker strobes are our device of choice for voice evacuation systems designed to protect patients and children,” said Lovato.

All proposed products were also selected for their ability to be quickly and easily installed and maintained. All SpectrAlert Advance products provide plug-in designs with universal mounting plates to speed and simplify installation. For example, the design called for over 1,200 speaker strobes. As the only speakers and speaker strobes available that provide plug-in designs, the SpectrAlert Advance devices not only speed and simplify installation across large projects, but also reduce labor and material costs associated with ground faults caused by pinched or crushed wires.

The Right Support

In addition to the system design proposal, Detection Logic provided Phoenix Children’s Hospital with information on how they would support the system.

Snow said, “No matter how good the installation of the system, the overall effectiveness is dependent upon the knowledge passed on to the end user.” Maintaining high-performing, cost-effective day-to-day operations of the system would be dependent on Phoenix Children’s Hospital personnel.

Consequently, Detection Logic proposed a range of approaches to enable Phoenix Children’s Hospital to operate and maintain the system effectively, including providing constant training throughout the installation of the system, labeling devices based on Phoenix Children’s Hospital input, and designing a user-friendly system interface.

In addition, Detection Logic has a fully staffed customer service department to provide ongoing support after completion of the installation, including 24/7 emergency service response, Web-based inspections and service reports, prescheduled inspections, and ongoing end-user training. These and other services will help Phoenix Children’s Hospital keep its fire system performing optimally, manage costs, and provide the highest level of protection available for patients and staff.

The Winning Bid

Ultimately, Detection Logic won the project by clearly communicating how the company and the proposed system could meet all the needs of Phoenix Children’s Hospital. As Terry Manning of Rolf Jensen & Associates, Inc., the consulting engineer over the entire project, reported, “…the fire alarm system…has been reviewed and accepted without comments. It is one of the best packages I have seen in a long time.”

Hospitals are complex buildings in terms of fire safety — quite different from any other type of building. As a result, in a dedicated patient-care environment, fire systems can be very complex and several common practices may not apply. So the task of designing and implementing a hospital fire system can be a challenging one. One of Denver’s oldest and most progressive hospitals, St. Anthony Central, will be taking on this task as the hospital embarks on a new period of its history by constructing a new campus in Lakewood, Colo., to replace the existing facility.

As it has for its more than 100-year history, the hospital will continue showcasing the latest advancements in medicine. It will also potentially become the largest hospital in the Western U.S. The main structure will consist of two towers: the three-story Ortho Tower, which is in phase 1, and an eight-story Hospital Tower, which is in phase 2. That’s 880,000 square feet upon completion — with six to seven more medical office buildings anticipated.

When it came to the fire and life safety systems, coordination was necessary between the electrical contractor and the fire and life safety systems contracting company, which was chosen by the electrical contractor and the electrical engineer.

For Commercial Specialists of Southern Colorado, LLC, it was just another job that happened to be a big one — albeit with some requirements unique to the hospital setting. “We are very methodical about how we put all this together, how we engineer it, how we install it, how we close out the job,” said Dean Doiron, executive manager of Commercial Specialists. “We go through the same processes as we do on a strip center; all the processes are the same from the beginning to end. It’s just that the magnitude changes.”

Phase 1, Ortho Tower – System Design

Key to designing an effective fire alarm system in a hospital is the recognition that the system is not a stand-alone entity; it is a component of the overall fire safety solution. Although it is common practice to fully evacuate other buildings, such as a school, when the fire alarm sounds, many occupants of a hospital cannot simply get up and leave. Unless it is absolutely necessary, it is unrealistic to evacuate intensive care patients and others in elderly care, for example, as well as surgeons engaged in intricate procedures at the time of the alarm.

Therefore, for a hospital fire system to operate successfully, a great deal of information is required, not only about the layout and structure of the building, but also the activities that are carried out in particular areas and the interaction required with other services.

In complex, modern hospital buildings, code is another significant factor. The codes are all structured to apply to a hospital’s unique disposition. What took this project up a notch, however, was that the West Metro Fire Marshal follows an amended IBC 2006 code that calls for full detection in every room. “In the 27 years I’ve been involved in this business, this is the largest set of shop drawings we’ve ever done. It was about 70 full-sized sheets just to design the fire alarm system,” stated Doiron.

In all, the project included about 2,500 smoke detectors, including 400 for the Ortho Tower and 275 duct smoke detectors. Ninety-eight percent of the 2,500 detectors will be addressable.

The size and magnitude of the design dictated how much control and field equipment was necessary to accommodate the work needed. The System Sensor fire and life safety addressable devices are supported by NOTIFIER® control panels, which all feed into one network. All of this was installed and tested without a hitch — bringing the Ortho Tower fully operational for its opening in spring 2010.

Fire and life safety integration fundamentals, backed by methodical and meticulous planning, were key to this seamless creation. “We were able to leverage our expertise of fire and life safety system integration to enable a smooth transition,” Doiron said, “by bringing together code information and system requirements for a unified and efficient fire and life safety system.”

As Tom Trask, an acoustical engineer with Newcomb & Boyd, discusses in this month’s Q&A, many public forums with large, reverberant spaces, such as stadiums, have paid a great deal of attention to acoustics: When your business literally depends upon being heard — whether it’s for a sporting event or a concert — your facility’s system must deliver quality sound.

Acoustics have not played as prominent a role in average commercial, industrial and institutional facilities for building-wide communications — greater emphasis is placed on being “loud enough” than on the quality of the messaging. However, when messaging entails fire and life safety notification, it is imperative to communicate at a sufficient sound and quality level. Rising interest in mass notification is partly responsible for the greater prominence of voice evacuation systems, and these systems must deliver much higher intelligibility than basic intercom or public address systems.

System Sensor is continuously listening to our customers about what works — and what could be improved — in our product lineup. Supporting EASE software with our published speaker data is a new initiative for us, but System Sensor understands its importance in the marketplace and the implications for the type of work you do.

Our product developers and engineers diligently strive to make improvements, and it’s through tried-and-true, in-the-field feedback that we gain necessary insights to focus our efforts on what matters most to you and your customers. We invite you to share your comments and suggestions on the reply card inserted in this magazine, or call us at 800/736-7672.

Christa Poss

Marketing Manager, Audible Visible Business Unit, System Sensor

Thomas Trask is an acoustical engineer and senior associate at Newcomb & Boyd, an Atlanta, Ga.-based multidiscipline consulting and engineering firm providing innovative solutions for facility design, construction and maintenance. His acoustical engineering responsibilities have included acoustical analysis of performing arts centers, museums, laboratories, houses of worship, data centers, commercial buildings, production studios, high-rise residences, hospitals, academic buildings, and judicial facilities.

What piece of the building design puzzle pertains to acoustical design?

Typically an acoustical engineer is tasked to do an acoustical design for a few specific spaces in an entire facility. It can be anything from every space to only one or two spaces. Mainly it will be the most critical spaces in respect to clarity, such as a lecture space. It also depends on what you are trying to achieve: Are you trying to keep noise from getting into or from getting out of the space? Or are you trying to have the noise in the space meet a certain quality or quantity? Low background noise is beneficial in a learning environment, whereas an open office environment prefers a higher level to mask the conversations. Mainly, acoustical designs are for spaces that need critical engineering analysis on the acoustic end, such as an auditorium, sports venue, or another big, reverberant space where the role of audio reception is of importance to the occupants.

What is the tie-in with fire and life safety designs?

In the past, the fire alarm industry primarily focused on audibility requirements, assuming that if the sound was loud enough, it would be sufficiently intelligible. With the increasing use of voice messages for controlled and staged emergency evacuation, intelligibility now plays a role. The first objective standards for speech intelligibility in the context of fire and evacuation were introduced as an appendix to NFPA 72, 2002. This intelligibility requirement is intended to help ensure that the messages from voice evacuation and fire systems can be heard and understood by the occupants of a building.

Although a specific measure of intelligibility is noted, but not currently specified, by NFPA 72, the Code’s Annex recommends the use of International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 60849 and a Speech Transmission Index Public Address (STIPA) of 0.50 or Common Intelligibility Scale (CIS) measurement of 0.70. CIS = 1+log10 (STIPA). For example: A voice communication that comes over the alarm system says to evacuate. From a design standpoint, the code says that voice communication – whether it’s prerecorded or a live person – has to meet a CIS level of 70 percent voice/speech intelligibility. Because the code doesn’t mandate proof that this will be met during the design phase, it is left up to the local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) official to require a measureable quantity.

To an acoustical engineer, 70 percent is still a very marginal measure of intelligibility. We’d like 90 percent, especially for clarity and comprehension. If you were having a phone conversation and could only understand 70 percent of it, would that be adequate?

How is the proper CIS level calculated or determined?

Intelligibility, by definition, is difficult to quantify. Right now, it is calculated only in instances where some authority mandates it or it’s stated in a job’s RFP. When this does happen, it brings everyone on a level plane, knowing that they now have to do an acoustical assessment when they are doing the fire protection design.

Of the places that have adopted the NFPA 72 code and require intelligibility measurement, the IEC 60849 code provides a procedure to measure the CIS levels. In reality, such places have typically been limited to airports, convention halls, and sometimes sport centers/stadiums. It’s usually instances where you have large groups of people at any one time. That makes a lot of sense from a safety perspective.

The question becomes, when do you measure it? You start with a reference signal that you are measuring against. In an airport concourse, for example, do you measure it when there is a large group of people present or when it’s empty? Ideally, the code prefers that testing be conducted while occupancy is near typical levels, but the AHJ will be the final arbiter. While instrumentation is readily available to conduct intelligibility measurements for life safety systems, only qualified staff are currently allowed to conduct the actual measurements.

As an acoustical engineer, how do you design to that standard?

For the most part, acoustics is not considered to be life safety, life structural or fire safety. However, an acoustical engineer would look at the architectural design of the space. That is going to have the greatest impact on the intelligibility of the room once you get past the device placement. These factors are usually going to be the quantity and types of finishes that go in the room. Background noise can have an effect on it, but usually the fire enunciators are capable of providing a signal high enough to overcome background noise in most spaces. The only time you would not be able to do that is in a large space like a stadium, where it would work better if the annunciation/evacuation system is tied into the house sound system, which uses large, professional-grade loudspeakers. Typically, the fire system is a separate entity.

Placement of devices, on the other hand, depends upon the room size and the ceiling height. For a low ceiling, you place them closer together. But for a high ceiling, the typical approach is to put more devices into that space in hopes that the extra devices will make up for the poor acoustic design. The intelligibility from an acoustics/voice standpoint in the room design, meaning the volume, the finishes and background noises in the space, all have proportional implications.

Do more units offer greater intelligibility?

Not necessarily, but if you have them closer to people, then it can because you don’t have to drive the signal as loud and still retain a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio. It’s somewhat analogous to headphones; when you put headphones on, you will hear a lot more clearly. This approach will require more speakers in order to maintain decent sound level uniformity over the speaker’s coverage area without having to overdrive the signal to meet audibility requirements. But this design approach is better able to compensate for acoustically challenged spaces that typically exhibit poor intelligibility due to the space’s inability to absorb sound as it propagates around the room. If you put acoustically absorptive finishes in the room, then this sound is more likely to get absorbed. By the time it arrives back to the people, it will be at such a level that it won’t matter anymore.

Are there any tools that you use to help with design issues?

There are 3D modeling programs typically used by audiovisual professionals that assist in predicting a number of acoustic attributes within a defined space, including intelligibility, but these programs have not traditionally been applied to emergency evacuation systems. For this to happen, life safety manufacturers will have to begin to offer modeling data for their speaker devices.

How does the issue of intelligibility differ in a healthcare setting?

Healthcare is a bit more acoustically challenging because of the desire for microbial-resistant finishes, which typical sound absorptive materials, such as fiberglass, do not possess. However, proper space planning and the introduction of new “green” sound absorptive materials can help to mitigate distracting noise that occurs from activities and equipment.

A joint sub-committee, the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) and the Institute of Noise Control Engineering (INCE), is trying to pass a guideline: Sound and Vibration Design Guidelines for Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities. This guideline is not directed to fire and life safety A/V devices and does not mention NFPA 72 or voice emergency systems. It primarily addresses the criteria that would make the facility most beneficial to the patient by reducing the noise level while they are trying to recuperate.

The 5600 Series includes nine detectors in both single- and  dual-circuit devices featuring: 135°F fixed, 135°F fixed plus rate-of-rise (ROR), 194°F fixed, and 194°F fixed plus ROR heat detection. Clearly marked with detection capabilities, these units are effective for commercial and industrial installations.

The 5601P mechanical heat detector is an unmarked 135°F fixed or ROR heat detector with no external letters, numbers or markings. The 5601P model is specifically designed to accommodate applications where markings on the device may compromise the visual integrity of the product and its surroundings.

To meet the needs of a variety of applications and save time and money on installation, the 5600 Series features multiple back box mounting options, a reversible mounting bracket for flush- or surface-mount installations, SEMS-type screw terminals, clearer external identification, and an aesthetic design that’s similar to a smoke detector.

EASE 4.3 is a software solution designed to model sound properties for specific environments and  speaker configurations. Voice evacuation system designers can use EASE to predict the intelligibility of their voice system before installation.

To obtain an intelligibility prediction, simply import the speaker information into the software along with other variables such as room materials, ceiling height, and speaker positioning. More information can be found at www.systemsensor.com/av or www.systemsensor.com/ease.

All i3 Series detectors are designed with a focus on installation ease, intelligence, and instant inspection. For example, a plug‑in design enables efficient wire management and pre-wiring capabilities that slash installation time and costs; intelligent drift compensation and smoothing algorithms reduce unnecessary maintenance calls; and a visual status indication at each detector differentiates between normal and abnormal conditions to make detector status inspections quick and intuitive.

Accessories for the i³ Series detectors include:

i³ Loop Test/Maintenance Module (2W-MOD2) — This module interprets the i³ remote maintenance signal, provides a visual indication when the two-wire i³ detector requires cleaning, and transmits the maintenance signal to the panel. Additional capabilities include an EZ Walk loop test, style D initiating circuit, and an interface for two-wire detectors for use on a four-wire loop.

i³ Sensitivity Reader (SENS-RDR) — By dramatically simplifying sensitivity measurement using an infrared signal, the reader measures i³ detectors in seconds, eliminating the need for voltmeters, magnets and a physical connection. Sensitivity is displayed in terms of percent per foot obscuration and provides text status indication.

i³ Reversing Relay/Synchronization Module (RRS-MOD) — This module allows all i³ sounder detectors on the loop to sound when one alarms by reversing the polarity to the detector zone. The module also synchronizes all detectors on the loop to ensure a clear, audible signal.

i³ Removal Tool (RT) — Simplify i³ detector removal by attaching this tool to a standard extension pole or broom handle. Designed specifically for high-ceiling installations, the tool minimizes maintenance time.

i³ Adapter Bracket (A77-AB2) — Provide a professional, finished appearance for retrofit installations with this bracket, which covers unsightly rings and unfinished surfaces. Simple installation steps include: mounting bracket to back box, aligning with mounting base, and twisting to secure.