Sustainable Fire Protection Systems
The installation and ongoing testing and maintenance of fire protection systems can have a significant environmental impact, particularly with respect to water usage.
There is significant opportunity to reduce the amount of water they use over their life, to substantially lessen the extent of materials and other environmental impacts required for their installation and ownership, and to lessen the limitations that fire services can sometimes place on achieving broader sustainability solutions and outcomes.
To improve the sustainability of fire protection systems Walker Fire Protection can assist in the following areas:
Water
Thousands of litres of potable water can be wasted every day in carrying out statutory testing on fire systems, and tens of thousands of litres may be required to be drained down to relocate one sprinkler head. Walker Fire Protection can:
- Configure fire pumps to incorporate either a recirculating test water tank or discharge test water to grey water recycle system to minimise the amount of water used in testing.
- Locate sprinkler system drain down valves to allow the isolation and drain down of systems on a floor by floor basis or by zones to minimise the amount of water required to be drained down for modifications and drain to grey water storage systems where installed.
Materials
A number of materials that are unfriendly to the environment are typically used in fire protection systems. Walker Fire Protection can:
- Reduce the use of PVC sheathed cables and incorporate the selection of cables sheathed in low environmental impact materials such as low halogen type materials.
- Limit or preclude the use of chromium plated sprinkler heads and incorporate the selection of natural brass or painted finish sprinkler heads
- Limit or preclude the use of ionisation detectors and use alternative photoelectric types.
- Consider any envisaged future modifications to tenancy layout in design of sprinkler head grid and pipework to maximise adaptability of system and minimise extent of change needed to meet requirements of future layout changes.
- Consider the installation of flexible sprinkler droppers to maximise adaptability of the sprinkler system and minimise extent of change needed to meet requirements of future layout changes.
- Consider the combination and integration of pipework elements of the fire sprinkler and hydrant systems to minimise the extent of the pipework installation
Whilst the key elements set out above are not an exhaustive list of the possible sustainability initiatives in the fire protection services field they do demonstrate that there is considerable opportunity to lessen the environmental impact of the installation and ownership of these systems.