DHi's AfterGlow(R) Brand Products Provide a Fail-Safe Emergency Egress Marking System
MANASSAS PARK, VA / ACCESSWIRE / April 8, 2015 / DHi(R)(Defense Holdings, Inc.(R)): Yesterday a major power outage resulted in the loss of power and lighting to a large segment of the Washington D.C. metropolitan area including the White House, The National Mall, commercial and federal buildings, Metro stations, education and child care facilities, and many households. News media reports this outage affected almost 28,000 people, including many visitors to the area who were unfamiliar with their surroundings. Reminiscent of the 18 hour blackout that occurred in 2003 and the earlier and tragic events of 9/11, it was reported in the media that many people experienced increased levels of anxiety, stress, and fear as they found themselves in darkened areas where they were not provided with clear markings as to how to exit the areas they were in. There is a solution to this growing issue.
DHI's AfterGlow(R) Brand is a comprehensive range of photoluminescent (PL) - non-electrical, non-radioactive, glow-in-the-dark products used in buildings to provide a safety marking system throughout the structures. AfterGlow(R) products include entrance, exit and other signage, tapes and paints, and UL924 EXIT signs that provide lighting without electricity, batteries, LED's or radioactive materials, Figure 1.
PL products are sustainable, LEED certified, and can earn LEED credit points for building owners in green building design and construction. They can be used to retrofit existing buildings, are ideal for historical preservation, and can be used to significantly reduce the energy budget and electrical infrastructure for new construction as well as existing buildings. Installation costs are reasonable, they require fewer building materials to make, are maintenance free, and consume ZERO energy because they are charged by ambient light, Figure 2.
PL products are effective and, in many emergency cases, superior to other methods. PL products continue working long after emergency generators typically stop running, and their luminance far exceeds that of many LED products. Unlike the "Novelty-grade" PL materials often used for glowing Halloween skeletons or stars on the ceilings of children's bedrooms, the "Safety-grade" PL materials will not lose their ability to hold a charge. Modern Safety-grade phosphors can be recharged time and again for many, many years. Photoluminescent materials will continue to perform even if damaged.
Building Codes and Requirements
To protect the health, welfare and safety of communities, the building industry adopts international building and fire codes and standards which are applied to every aspect of building design and maintenance. Codes are revised every three years to make changes so that these standards include the latest in innovation, technology, and approaches to health and safety. Virtually every building, process, service, design and installation in the industry today is affected by these international standards, and in the U.S., they are also affected by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards. These codes were all revised in 2009 to state that "luminous(visible)egress path markings shall be required in all new and existingbuildings-institutional, educational, business, hotel, public assembly and residential," that meet specific occupancy and location requirements. This means that all doors, rails, steps, landings, perimeters and obstacles have to be able to be seen and clearly designated. This is a legally-mandated requirement for all building owners. In addition to meeting this legal requirement, having common lighting/visibility in these areas helps guide occupants through them safely. This requirement also provides additional protection for an aging population that sees less clearly, creates a common, non-verbal communication designating exits, entrances, and related areas for a multi-lingual population, and more importantly it matters in emergency situations such as fire or long-term electricity blackouts that leave people stranded. Figure 3 shows an actual typical installation required in accordance with legally-mandated requirements.
AfterGlow(R) in Action
In 2001 after the World Trade Center was attacked, experts who analyzed the consequences of the event highlighted the need to use new technologies like safety-grade PL products, so that people could see the exits, stairs, floors and doors to escape. In this situation of extreme fire and smoke it was difficult for people to figure out where the exits, windows, doors and stairs were. Similarly, when the plane crashed into the Pentagon that same day in 2001, both primary and secondary power sources immediately stopped working making it very dark in parts of the building, clouding escape routes. Analysts recommended improved safety measures in renovating the Pentagon using DHi's photoluminescent products. DHi's PL products are now used for all entrance and exit signs, PL products are used to mark the corridors, floors, stairs, windows and doors so that exit paths can be clearly seen in complete darkness or when smoke obscures traditional exit markings. The use of PL products was considered so essential for safety, that they were installed not only throughout the newly renovated portion of the Pentagon but also retrofitted into older sections of the building, even though total renovation would take another 8 years.
In 2003 major regions of the Northeastern U.S. and Canada experienced blackouts and brownouts. In this case, electrical systems, both primary and secondary (backup or generators) failed; many just ran out of fuel. Other systems failed because of improper or neglected maintenance, EXIT signs in particular. Following the blackout the City of New York (NYC) passed rigorous new standards, Local Law 26/04, which requires PL Egress Marking Systems in certain commercial buildings to guarantee a safe exit in the event of a major disruption or disaster resulting in a loss of lighting or reduced visibility. AfterGlow(R) products have been used in hundreds of government and commercial buildings in NYC alone because they meet and exceed the requirements of this law. Unfortunately, even today, most buildings and facilities have insufficient emergency lighting even though they meet the requirements of local and federal codes.
PL products are a good low cost, low maintenance solution for all buildings. Figure 4 shows a sampling of DHi's products used in a building in Arlington, VA.
About DHi
Founded in 1994 and originally operated as Noesis, Inc., DHi is a privately-held business that has been dedicated to developing and providing leading edge technologies and innovative solutions addressing national and worldwide challenges in energy security and sustainability, health, and environmental quality by overcoming the limitations of legacy systems. Since the terrorist attack on the USS COLE in 2000 and those on 9/11, DHi has been a leader in all areas of high performance photoluminescent technology (PL) including research, specifications development, and manufacturing. DHi is based in Manassas Park, VA with manufacturing facilities in Charlottesville, VA and Trenton, NC. DHi has received numerous awards from local, states, and federal government for outstanding technical innovation and performance. Rich Martin, DHi's President and CEO states, "In addition to the obvious safety aspects of AfterGlow(R) safety marking systems, users are buying a green product. More importantly, we don't just do buildings. Our products are used on aircraft, all types of wheeled vehicles including school activity buses, public transportation systems, ships, and private homes. We offer a broad spectrum of standard and custom products for many different applications - all for the safety of people in all walks of life." DHi's products are proudly manufactured in the Unites States of America.
