Fireproofing Material Protects 7 WTC
Grace Construction Products' Monokote Z-106/HY fireproofing was specified to protect the new 7 World Trade Center building's entire structural steel frame from failure in the event of fire. The fireproofing material was selected by general contractor Tishman Construction for the 52-story, 1.7 million-sf office tower (right) because it is twice as durable as currently required by the New York City Building Code, according to Paul Westgate of Grace Specialty Building Materials.
Grace Construction Products
Reader Service No. 241
A Smart Fire System
When a building has mixed uses, its fire safety system needs to respond differently for each. In the case of Little Rock, Ark.'s First Security Center—a 14—story mixed-use complex that includes a hotel, a trading firm, and condos—the system would be put to the test. Hargrave Consulting Engineers of Little Rock recommended Fire Control Instruments' NetSOLO 7100 system. Shortly after the building opened, the system was put to the test: A condo resident caused a fire while lighting a gas fireplace. The system evacuated the condo area, yet did not trip the sprinklers and cause damage to the office and retail areas.
Fire Control Instruments
Reader Service No. 242
In Canada, Mold and Surgery Don't Mix
The Vancouver General Hospital day surgery building's air intakes were besieged with mold and other microorganisms stirred up by three nearby demolition and construction projects. Consulting engineer Desmond Pattrick from the Vancouver office of Stantec Consulting Engineers came up with with an inventive HVAC solution. Pattrick retrofitted the building's air handlers with a new air purification method combining mechanical filtration with electrostatics and ionization. Stantec designed a universal, galvanized sheet metal plenum to serve the three existing air handlers as well as an added 5,000-cfm make-up air unit. An 18-unit StrionAir filter bank purifies air drawn through louvers on two sides of the plenum. The four supply ducts come out of the plenum's remaining two walls to deliver the supply air to the three air handlers and the additional make-up air unit.
StrionAir
Reader Service No. 243
