10B — June 23 - July 13, 2017 — Contractors/Subcontractors — Owners, Developers & Managers — M id A tlantic
Real Estate Journal
www.marejournal.com
C ontractors /S ubcontractors By George Crawford, Green Partners LLC Fire safety code compliance financed by LED
L
ighting regulations and Fire Egress Compliance inMultifamily Buildings
you will start to see instances of code compliance shortfalls, especially involving public cor- ridor and fire stairs lighting as well exit signage. Even in older well run buildings, don’t be surprised to find some very serious deficiencies including inadequate egress illumina- tion, no exit signage and no battery backup emergency lighting for corridors or fire stairs. These deficiencies can only be described as a window of opportunity for bad things to happen - a window that needs to be closed as soon as possible.
an insurance company when deciding to offer coverage, and the price for that coverage. Good safety protocols are not only important for protecting residents and guests, but they also diminish the possibility of expensive and reputation- ruining liability determina- tions against building owners. Such protocols include the availability of proper egress, proper lighting, clearly labeled exit signage, as well as many other considerations. At GNY we employ engineers to inspect buildings to determine the ad- equacy of life safety protocols, as well as the condition of the property. Deficiencies are com- municated to a prospective or current policy holder as a way of helping the policyholder prevent losses from occurring.” Regardless of the per- spective, be it code com- pliance, insurance, or life safety, buildings that have code deficiencies should take corrective action. They need to close the window of opportunity for bad things to happen and they need to close it quickly. However, moving from a well-motivated action plan to correct life safety deficiencies to the actual costs related to implementation, the life safety project will often face the real world problem of tight building finances and the need to choose between other essential build- ing projects. Fortunately there is a “best of both worlds” financial solu- tion to prioritizing a building life safety project without the need to defer other building projects. The strategy is to have your life safety project pay for itself by combining it with a building wide LED retro-fit upgrade. The positive cash flow generated by the energy sav- ings from a LED retro-fit will more than cover the cost and installation of the life safety portion of your project. In ad- dition, there is rebate funding available for LED retro-fit projects from utility programs such as the Con Ed Multifamily program. This utility funding will help shorten the combined project investment payback period. Additionally, by com- bining the projects, you will also trigger additional funding for your project. A good example of a high quality fire safety LED light- ing product that would trigger continued on page 24B
Andrew Pisani of the Metropolis Group , a recog- nized NYC Building Code expert , advises that “NYC Building code requires that illumination for required paths of egress in multifam- ily buildings shall not be less than 1 foot candle at the walk- ing surface at all times. This includes public corridors, in a residential building, as a path of egress to the required exit stairs. At exits in buildings, the minimum illumination shall be 2 foot candles. In ad- dition, emergency lighting in
stair cases shall be provided by emergency power systems in case of power failure. For buildings without a backup power generator, the power shall be provided by battery backup for a du- ration of not less than 90 min- utes” In terms of “a window of opportunity for bad things to happen”, Elizabeth Heck , CEO of the Greater New York Mutual Insurance Companies (GNY) says: “Life safety protocols are always an important consideration for
may not be on any best seller list, but fire safety in any bu i l d - i ng shou l d be a top pri- ority for ev- ery building manager and
George Crawford
owner. Newer buildings, which have been built to code, gener- ally are in compliance. But as you move on to older buildings,
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954 Lexington Avenue * Suite 320 * NewYork, NY 10021 For More Information Visit www.GreenPartnersNY.com or Contact George Crawford, Principal at gcrawford@greenpartnersny.com
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