1. What are the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) regulations regarding Emergency Lighting and Exit Signs?
- A monthly activation test requiring that Emergency Lighting / Exit Signs come on
and provide the required emergency illumination for a minimum of 30 seconds. - An annual test where Emergency Lighting / Exit Signs is activated for 90 minutes
to simulate a long term emergency - Emergency Lighting / Exit Signs to be operational during testing
- Written records of the monthly and yearly tests (showing documentation with
respect to maintenance and retesting if problems occur) must be maintained
2. How does this impact Exit Signs with battery backup?
- NFPA 101 requires maintenance personnel to perform a manual test every 30
days, meaning that the “test” button on the Exit Sign needs to be pushed and
held in place for 30 seconds to simulate a short outage. The Exit Sign needs to
stay illuminated during the test while operating on the battery - NFPA 101 requires an annual battery test of 90 minutes on each Exit Sign
- Written records need to be maintained and produced during an audit including
maintenance and replacement records - Manual testing of Exit Signs is labor intensive, expensive (typically involves
overtime), typically requires multiple people (ladders or lifts) and is very
disruptive to normal building operations
3. What are the fines for not being compliant?
- OSHA fines are currently over $16,000 per violation
- Failure to abate is $13,260 per day beyond the abatement date
- Willful or repeated penalties are $132,598 (per violation)
4. What is the Willard Smart Exit Sign solution?
- Willard Smart Exit provides a centralized real-time status of all your exit signs. It is
secure, fast, flexible and facilitates a scalable, reliable administration - A comprehensive life safety solution that addresses NFPA 101 regulations in Exit Signs with rapid ROI’s. The solution comprises 2 components: (1) Hardware (2) Executive Dashboard
- The Willard Smart Exit has patented technology and monitors the internal
battery. The Dashboard provides battery status of all Exit Signs in your
building(s) in a single location, replacing the need for manual testing - Any failures result in a Work Order being issued so maintenance can take place
- Reports can be generated immediately upon request
5. We have an in-house generator or stored energy system to back up the Exit Signs; Why do we need the Willard Smart Exit Sign?
- A generator, stored energy system or a battery in a standard Exit Sign are all the
same in the view of the NFPA and any other Authority Holding Jurisdiction .
Regardless of which system you have you must comply with NFPA 101 and audit
“each“ Emergency Exit Sign monthly and annually. A system with a generator for
example does not help in any way to meet compliance except by illuminating the
Exit Sign for an emergency back up test. - Once a Compliance Test is complete with a system using a generator or stored
energy or standard Emergency Battery Exit Sign the task of inspecting each
individual Exit Sign must be completed (typically manually but sometimes with a
tablet) and converted to an approved NFPA format. The Willard Smart Exit Sign
completely changes how a facility manages the Emergency Exit Sign Compliance
work load. The time and labor savings is an easy calculation. As is the Life Safety
of all of the occupants of a facility. If you can save a huge amount of time and
money by installing a Smart Exit Sign solution you greatly reduce the risks and
liabilities of any facility. - The Emergency Power system or the Stored Electrical Power Systems need to
meet the NFPA standards for Level 1, Class 6 (6 hours) or Class 48 (48 hours) in
order to meet the NFPA 101 standards for emergency backup power to
Emergency Lighting and Exit Signs. If the generator or stored system does not
meet these standards for time support while in an Emergency mode then the
Exit Signs would need a Battery backup.
6. Can a Willard Smart Exit Sign with its own Battery Backup be used even with a generator or stored energy system?
- Yes. Installing a Smart Exit Sign with its own Battery backup creates no electrical or mechanical issues as to how the existing generator or stored energy system operates.
- In addition to the generator and stored energy systems needing their own separate NFPA Standards to meet, the facility now has a Second Emergency Exit Sign backup system should the generator or stored energy system experience a failure or delay. Some regions are more subject to earthquake or floods and there is a legitimate argument that if a generator or stored energy system were to fail for example during a disaster of some type the facility Exit Signs would not illuminate to direct occupants to safety.
- The Willard Smart Exit Sign is unique compared to all other Emergency Exit Signs. The Willard Exit Sign incorporates two LED Flood Lights within the Exit Sign body to provide a significant amount of lighting directed to the emergency egress floor area. It is an equivalent to a 40 watt light bulb. The Willard Smart Exit Sign provides over 4 hours of Emergency Light to both the LED White Flood lights and the Exit Sign Signage . The NFPA 101 Standards require 90 minutes and the Willard Exit Sign provides over 240 minutes . This feature directly impacts the ability of building occupants to evacuate safely out of the building with a 4 hour window versus a 90 minute window.
7. How do we know if our generator or stored energy system meets NFPA Compliance?
- The NFPA 101, NFPA 110 and NFPA 111 Standards state clearly that an Emergency Exit Sign whether backed up with a generator, stored energy system or a battery pack within the Exit Sign must illuminate for a minimum of 90 minutes. If the generator or stored energy system cannot exceed the 90 minutes than it is not acceptable as the Emergency Power Source for the Exit Signs.
- Emergency Power Systems provide automatic backup power in the event of normal power loss. They are required by code and shall provide power within 10 seconds to all life safety systems
8. How does the Willard Smart Exit Sign help reduce maintenance costs compared to Fluorescent Exit Signs?
- The first most important issue is NFPA compliance. If an Exit Sign (in this case fluorescent) fails there is no automated system to alert the facility that the Exit Sign is out of order and so out of Compliance. The other important cost saving and maintenance issue is that on average a Fluorescent Light bulb/ tube/ compact fluorescent only have a useful life cycle of 8,000 to 12,000 hours and then need replacement. With a facility like a Hospital this means very often the Exit Sign must be serviced at least once per year with new Fluorescent lamps/ bulbs. In comparison the Willard Smart Exit Sign uses LEDs with a useful life cycle of over 80,000 hours and the system as designed is rated to last 13.5 years
9. What does Willard Smart Exit Sign do differently than any other emergency powered Exit Sign?
- Allows a facility to use a Smart network to monitor the status of every Exit Sign connected to the network, providing on demand status reports ranging from all system good to a specific Exit Sign location that is reporting a problem condition such as a battery low level or battery failure, signage failure, building power failure and network wide automated Compliance Test.
11. What about security? How secure is the solution?
- The Smart Exit Signs have encrypted TLS communications and utilizes industry standard MQTT to communicate via WiFi to the IBM Cloud. IBM takes data security very seriously – for further information please review https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSQP8H/iot/platform/reference/security/index.html
15. Is installation included?
- No. Installation is not included.
16. When is it cost effective to replace my older Fluorescent Exit Signs with new LED Exit Signs?
- It is cost effective now based on the average wattage savings when comparing Fluorescent to LED lighting. Depending on the age of the fluorescent Exit Sign a typical energy savings of 30-60 % can be realized.
17. What is the targeted price of the solution?
- The approximate price of the Willard Smart Exit Sign, Executive Dashboard and Smart Ledger is $15/sign/month for a 60 month term. Installation is not included
18. What is the life expectancy of an average Exit Sign? What about the Willard Smart Exit Sign?
- The average life expectancy of an Exit Sign installed in the past 5 years is 8-10 years based on an Exit Sign being on 24/7 (or 8760 hours annually). Exit Signs installed prior to that will have a shorter life cycle. Exit Signs are considered a commodity product and the components are typically lesser quality to reach the low prices
- The Willard Smart Exit Sign is a much higher grade product with a thermal management design that allow LEDs to operate at a lower temperature. This translates to an average useful life of 13.5 years
Hardware Questions:
What are the core components of the Willard Smart Exit Sign hardware?
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