Automatic Fire Suppression Software
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), there were nearly 500,000 structure fires in the United States in 2017, an increase of 4.9% from fires in 2016. In that same year, fires in structures not related to wildfires caused $10.7 billion in property damage, an increase of 37% from 2016. Based on this and other data collected, the NFPA determined that a structure fire occurred every 63 seconds, a home fire occurred every 88 seconds, and an outside property fire occurred every 51 seconds.
Would these numbers have changed with the use of a fire sprinkler design appropriate for the home or office? AFSA believes that the installation of fire sprinklers could save thousands of lives and billions of dollars lost to fires each year. Increasingly, public officials are realizing this. As residential fire sprinkler adoption is debated in many states, there is a lot of misinformation about the experience and perception of home fire sprinklers.
The most widely used are wet pipe fire sprinklers, design by these software contractors to release when fire is detect/an alarm sounds. In this type of system, sprinkler heads attach to a piping system that continually holds water to allow for immediate discharge when activated. All fire sprinklers are designed to activate with heat, not smoke, and they activate individually as to not flood the structure. According to the NFPA, this is the most effective way to battle a fire before most fire departments arrive at the scene, lowering not only cost but property damages and length of time it takes to battle the fire, all of which are taken into consideration by a fire sprinkler designer.
Automatic fire sprinklers have been in use in the U.S. since 1874 and currently reduce the amount of water used to fight a fire by 90%. All fire protection systems take careful consideration from the owner of the structure (home or business), as well as thorough planning from the engineers involved in fire protection sprinkler system installation.
When sourcing a design firm for layout detail and calculation of fire sprinkler systems, there are several things to consider, as the fire sprinkler design provided by fire sprinkler contractors and companies may vary in both cost and effective nature.
Many companies hire out experienced software companies to design the fire protection software associated with fire sprinkler designs and protection systems. Most companies that choose to contract out this portion of the project don’t actually do the design work themselves but provide training on how to use the software to design their system. This not only provides a dual layer of technology and support for fire sprinkler designs, but it also encourages an expanded role for automatic fire sprinklers in protecting lives and property.
If you’re looking for fire sprinkler designs and layouts, or even just basic online training, types of fire suppression systems and the design firm you’re working with are just a few of the things you need to consider.