Sprinkler Age A Publication of the American Fire Sprinkler Association
I’m writing this column during a time of reflection on what I do for a living. The more I think about it, I (we) save lives. Sprinklers work! As I stated in my last column, my first grandchild was born. I’m now more than ever worried my grandchild does not live in a sprinklered home. I do, but neither of my daughters does. When they went to grade school, high school, and even college, they were protected with sprinklers. As adults, they can decide for themselves, but my grandchild cannot. Maybe it is the dad in me, but I want my family protected.
As stated above, I have recently been to numerous locations where sprinklers are not well known. To me, this just seems ridiculous. I attended the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPECON24) in Raleigh, N.C. This event occurred during Hurricane Debby. While the storm itself was not major, tornadoes and flash flooding occurred. I pray that all recover from these types of events. During my discussions, I quickly realized I had to educate every Professional Engineer I talked to. There were engineers from all disciplines of the field, but less than 5% knew what a sprinkler system was. Some of them thought I was talking about lawn sprinklers.
Growing up and living in the “great” state of Maryland, sprinklers were a given. Since 1990, all townhomes, apartments, condominiums, and other multifamily housing that was built required sprinkler protection. There were growing pains but after a few tears, sprinklers became commonplace. A whole generation of young people grew up with sprinklers. In Prince George’s County, every house, including single-family homes, built since 1990 has included sprinklers. Others have documented their track record of performance. Sprinkler work.
But here we are in 2024, and I still see the need to educate people about the importance of sprinklers. I do understand the cost to the population to install sprinklers but what I think most people do not realize is the cost of not installing sprinklers. Lives lost, emotional stress, increased property damage, displaced residents, fire service costs, water usage, environmental impacts, and other costs have also been well documented. AFSA is a founding member of the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC). Peg Paul and her team do outstanding work, but they cannot do it by themselves. Visit their website at www.homefiresprinkler.org and look around. Thanks to AFSA’s Manufacturers & Suppliers Council’s generous donation, AFSA has virtual reality goggles that allow one to watch a side-by-side burn test when using a smartphone. One room is protected by sprinklers and is not. After I show someone these tests, people understand the importance of living in a house with sprinkler protection.
I also attended the Home For Our Troops (HOT) event at Patriot Place in Foxborough, Mass. Paulene Norwood, executive director of AFSA’s Sacramento Chapter and our HFOT liaison, and I had the pleasure to discuss sprinkler protection with the conference attendees. The mission of HFOT is “to build and donate specifically adapted custom homes nationwide for severely injured post-9/11 Veterans, to enable them to rebuild their lives.” During this event, the eligible Veterans choose their options for their custom-built home. AFSA’s goal is to have every house built be protected with sprinklers, with our members donating the labor and materials.
It is important to note the difference in the purposes of each of the three NFPA sprinkler standards (13D, 13R, and 13). The purposes of each of these standards differs to balance cost, benefits, and goals while hopefully allowing all buildings to be protected with sprinklers. A comparison is given and just like a restaurant guide, I will use the “$” as a guide to cost.
NFPA 13D – A barebones sprinkler system to aid the detection and control of residential fires to improve protection against injury and life loss. The ultimate goal is to allow the occupants time to escape a fire condition. Property protection is not a stated goal but if a fire occurs in a portion of the home where sprinklers are present, property protection is enhanced. This approach keeps costs reasonable so sprinklers can be installed in all homes being built. $
NFPA 13R – A more robust sprinkler system compared to NFPA 13D which aids in the detection and control of residential fires to improve protection against injury, life loss, and property damage. Like NFPA 13D, the main ultimate goal is to allow the occupants time to escape a fire condition. While property protection is improved, it is not equal to NFPA 13. This approach keeps costs lower than a NFPA 13 system. $$
NFPA 13 – The most robust of all three NFPA sprinkler standards which provides a reasonable degree of protection for life and property. Systems complying to NFPA 13 are more expensive but offer enhanced protection both to life and property. $$$$
This brings my final point for this column. We need to educate. Educate our government officials, consumers, and the fire departments on the need for properly sprinklered properties. We need to educate a workforce to design and install residential sprinkler systems. One of the pushbacks we receive from homebuilders is there are not enough sprinkler contractors in our area of town. My typical response is, “If sprinkler protection were required, more contractors would step up and fill the need.” Let’s work together to ensure future generations have safer homes to live in.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
John August Denhardt, P.E., ET, CWBSP, FSFPE, is the vice president of engineering and technical services for the American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA). He is responsible for strengthening AFSA’s engineering and technical approaches to meeting member, industry, and operational priorities, with an emphasis on service, quality, and integrity. Denhardt is a registered professional engineer (P.E.) in the District of Columbia and the states of Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. He is NICET Level III certified in water-based systems layout, NICET Level III certified in inspection and testing of water-based systems, and a certified water-based system professional through NFPA. Denhardt is a member of the NFPA 13 technical committee on sprinkler system discharge criteria, a fellow in the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE), a member of the SFPE Board of Directors, a member of the Board of Trustees for NFPA’s Fire Protection Research Foundation and sits on the University of Maryland Department of Fire Protection Engineering’s Board of Visitors. A native of Maryland, Denhardt holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland College Park in fire protection engineering. Prior to this role, Denhardt was employed by Strickland Fire Protection in Forestville, Maryland, since 1994, overseeing large-scale projects and assisting with design and installation technical issues.
