EUL502

BENEFITS AND TECHNICAL DETAILS

Rarely can facility managers save their organization thousands of dollars a year, improve reliability and safety, while reducing work orders, freeing up labor, and making their environmental folks happy all at once. Photoluminescent EXIT signs do that.

Photoluminescent life safety products quickly absorb available light then slowly discharge the light as a glow to provide illumination for emergency evacuation. The technology has advanced from the days of radioactive tritium that required hazardous waste disposal to strontium bonded to aluminum that performs exceedingly well and can be recycled at the end of its useful life. These products last for many years with little degradation in performance.

THE PROBLEM

Think about the last power outage at one of your schools. How dark was it, especially in interior spaces? How many of your EXIT signs failed to stay lit for 90 minutes? How many don’t even have a battery back-up? Which of your emergency exits are the least important? What is your liability if people fail to find the exits in the dark?

THE SIMPLE SOLUTION

Photoluminescent EXIT signs are a low-cost and long-term solution. They increase life safety, save money at installation and over the long term, benefit the environment, meet code, and earn LEED points. Enjoy zero waste and zero maintenance with 100% reliability and 100% compliance.

Life Safety

Your most important consideration is life safety. Employees and students must be able to evacuate to safety when emergencies occur such as fires, earthquakes, power outages, and tornados. Consider that electric EXIT signs can fail, may not have battery backup, may have burned out bulbs, may be vandalized and not yet repaired, and even when they do work, only have 90 minutes of power or less. Compare that to photoluminescent EXIT signs that can’t fail and are recharged every time they are exposed to light. Photoluminescent products are passive safety products. They always work and require no training.

Installation Savings

A key consideration is the initial cost of installing EXIT signs. A traditional electric EXIT sign requires conduit, cabling, switches, circuit breakers, and an electrician to install or replace the fixture. Schools typically purchase metal-housed EXIT signs to reduce the risk of damage from vandalism. These units can cost upwards of $150 each. Total cost of installing an electric sign can be as high as $450 per sign. When you specify photoluminescent signs in new construction you eliminate most of these material and labor costs. A photoluminescent EXIT sign can cost under $100 and only takes a few screws to install.

Long-Term Savings

Electric EXIT signs have operating costs. They use electricity, require monthly and annual testing, and require maintenance. They require battery replacement every three to five years. An electric sign can cost over $1000 in 25 years for all of the electricity, labor, testing, parts replacement, and sign replacement. And that is for the most ultra efficient LED sign. Most signs are much less efficient. Photoluminescent EXIT signs require no monthly testing, no annual testing, and no maintenance.

Environment

Photoluminescent signs are better for the environment. Electric signs have NiCad batteries that must be replaced creating a waste stream of the batteries. The electricity for just one ultra efficient sign over 25 years creates 425 pounds of CO2 emissions. Photoluminescent EXIT signs are easily recycled after 25 years or longer when they no longer provide adequate glow output. An elementary school may have sixty EXIT signs. A high school may have as many as 250 EXIT signs. When you replace 250 signs in one school, you prevent at least 106,250 pounds of CO2 pollution and save at least $253,500 over 25 years.

Code

These photoluminescent signs meet the same UL 924 requirements for visibility in case of emergency. Building codes require EXIT signs to be visible for 90 minutes and legible from at least 50 feet away. Photoluminescent signs are available in 50 and 100 foot distances and one-sided or two-sided.

LEED

New projects and major remodels may gain LEED points when using photoluminescent EXIT signs. The US Green Building Council in “LEED 2009 for Schools New Construction and Major Renovations” has three areas where photoluminescent products may help a project qualify for points.

1. Energy & Atmosphere. Section EA1: Optimize Energy Performance. Reduce electricity use for the life of the building by using photoluminescent signs in lieu of electric EXIT signs.
2. Material & Resources. Section MR2: Construction Waste Management. New construction installation of photoluminescent signs reduces waste vs. new electrical sign installation with waste from cable, conduit, packaging, and added labor.
3. Innovation in Design. ID1: Significant Environmental Benefits. photoluminescent products may help qualify for an innovation credit.

Minimum Challenges

There are some easily surmountable challenges to using photoluminescent EXIT signs. First, they need a five foot-candle light to charge them for sixty minutes prior to occupancy. This can be solved with existing lighting. The second challenge is using these signs in dark and dimly lit spaces such as theaters. A solution is to install a UV blacklight to charge the photoluminescent EXIT sign. Blacklights supercharge the glow material and don’t impair the dim atmosphere of a performance space. Blacklight bulbs can be installed directly into standard light fixtures.

Everyone saves money and labor by using photoluminescent EXIT signs. Insist on these signs in new construction and major remodels for value-engineering. Save energy and save money. Save limited maintenance time. Do it for the environment. And do it to ensure all emergency EXIT signs function when needed.