Residential Fire Sprinklers .com

Protecting Your Home & Family

Fire sprinklers help to reduce the carbon footprint of properties through the entire cycle of construction. They reduce carbon dioxide emissions from fires, reduce the amount of burned or non-recyclable building materials going to landfills, save energy on rebuilding after fire, conserve water, and reduce diesel fuel usage in heavy fire suppression equipment.

The carbon emissions are not solely from the fire itself; they are also from the billions of material needed to rebuild $14.6 BILLION in direct property loss following fires (2007 statistic from the National Fire Protection Association).

As a former volunteer firefighter in northern NJ, I remember a case in a neighboring community where a paint manufacturer’s fire had well over 4 million gallons of water applied to extinguish. There was a gully located approximately 50 feet from the building. The gully fed into a stream about a ¼ mile away and the fish were jumping OUT of the stream onto the bank because of the toxic, irritating material that was mixed in the water runoff from the firefighting operations.

Although codes may not require fire sprinklers in certain size buildings, fire sprinklers must be in all green construction projects to truly reflect this designation. I ask you – how can a green building, including single-family homes, be considered ‘sustainable construction’ if it is positioned to burn someday without the benefit of an automatic fire sprinkler system to suppress smoke and save materials?

Dominick Kasmauskas is the NY Regional Manager for the National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA) and Secretary to the NFSA Green Committee, as well as a member of the U.S. Green Building Council. After 32 years in the fire service as a Captain, NJ State Fire Instructor, and Fire Inspector, Dominick went on to gain experience in legislative matters. He is with the NFSA for over 8 years and is also an NFPA Certified Fire Protection Specialist and a NY Certified Codes Enforcement Official.

Getting home fire sprinklers added to the 2009 International Residential Code wasn’t easy. Opponents are still fighting to remove that requirement from the code, and NFPA and its allies have readied their arguments for hearings next month.

Code development hearings of the International Code Council set for Oct. 24-31 and Nov. 4-11 at a Hilton hotel in Baltimore will include the latest bout between advocates of residential fire sprinklers and their foes, notably the National Association of Home Builders. Four proposals to remove the requirement for home fire sprinklers in new one- and two-family homes from the 2009 International Residential Code will be considered at those hearings.

NFPA’s Fire Sprinkler Coalition has prepared seven pages of responses to the proposals, which are featured on pages 96-100 of this document. NFPA’s coalition says the arguments by sprinkler opponents are based on false statements and premises or misleading statements of the benefits sprinklers offer and their potential drawbacks. “The fact is that home fire sprinklers save lives and protect property from destruction by responding quickly and effectively to the presence of a nearby fire. In fact, the risk of dying decreases by about 80 percent when sprinklers are present. Sprinklers also reduce the average property loss by about 71 percent per fire,” according to the coalition.

NFPA urges ICC members to attend the hearings and vote no on the anti-sprinkler proposals.

By LISA LAVIA RYAN – DesMoinesRegister.com

It’s far too early to determine where the city of Johnston will land regarding proposed rules governing sprinkler requirements in residences, Johnston’s fire chief told the City Council last week.

International Residential Code sprinkler requirements announced recently mandate installing residential fire sprinklers in new one- and two-family homes effective Jan. 1, 2011.

Some entities, including the state fire marshal and the Iowa Building Code Commissioner, are recommending that implementation of that law be delayed two years. If that happens, Johnston and other cities will have to determine how their communities will respond to the news, Jim Krohse said.

Krohse is part of an ad-hoc committee of fire chiefs of local communities. The group has been discussing the issue and will continue to update local councils on the sprinkler rules, he said.

“Every one of us is waiting to see where the state goes to determine where we go from here,” Krohse said. “A number of entities think an extension would be appropriate, but it’s too soon to predict where this will go. I imagine it will have a fairly significant statewide impact.”

Currently, the city of Johnston requires that fire sprinklers be installed in any one- or two-family home or townhome larger than 8,000 square feet. Apartment and condominium buildings are exempt from that requirement.

Because Johnston already has sprinkler regulations in place, any impact on residents – no matter when the mandate takes effect – won’t be as large as it is likely to be in cities with no sprinkler laws on the books, Krohse said

“The only real change will be that all residential dwellings, not just those exceeding 8,000 square feet, will have to install sprinklers,” Krohse said.

To read the full article click here.

By Kathleen Sprouse – KBIA

The city of Kirkville plans to require all new homes beginning in 2012 to have fire sprinklers. The city council approved the new code this week requiring sprinklers in duplexes and single family houses. Kirksville’s codes and planning director, Brad Selby says many apartment complexes are already required to have fire sprinklers so adding houses is not surprising.

“Eighty percent of all fires, structure fires are in residential structures. And, this would prevent that, this is a way of saving lives, I think this is a good thing.”

The measure was approved four to one. Council member Aaron Rodgerson was the one no vote. He used to build homes in Kansas City and says he does not think people should be forced to install sprinklers especially because of the already high costs in building a new home.

“If someone came to me and said, you know, I’m going to build a home and I could build it without the sprinkler system, it is going to cost a couple thousand dollars more with sprinkler system.” I would probably, personally not put a sprinkler system in.”

To read the full article click here.