PROTECTION PROJECT

Oct 1, 2004 12:00 PM

The School District of Greenville County in South Carolina is the largest public school system in the state and the 63rd largest in the country. The consolidated, unified district formed in 1951 when 82 local school districts merged. The area served by the district covers 800 square miles and includes most of Greenville County and portions of neighboring Laurens and Spartanburg counties.

Greenville County was chosen to receive one of the state's most ambitious building initiatives: a five-year construction and renovation project that would encompass up to 72 schools at a cost of $862 million. Seventeen schools have already opened; 17 more are already in the construction process and several more are in the commissioning phase.

This project represents the first time the state of South Carolina has outsourced a project for an entire group of schools. To begin the initiative, the Greenville County Schools, in second quarter 2003, hired Institutional Resources, a local construction management consortium, to install the fire protection and security technology. The company manages the installation of the entire security systems, including fire, intrusion, closed circuit surveillance, data cabling and intercom.

Systems integrator Blue Ridge Security Systems, Anderson, S.C., proposed installing fire protection technology from Fire-Lite Alarms, part of Honeywell's Fire Group, in all the schools. The plan called for installation of fire-protection equipment in the first school, Paris Elementary, in early 2004. Located in Taylors, S.C., Paris Elementary is sited in the midst of Camp Sevier, a former army campground, which served as the training site for the 30th Division of World War I fame, also known as the “Old Hickory Division.”

At the outbreak of World War I, Paris School was moved to the intersection of Paris Mountain Road and Mountain Creek Road, vacating the site for the center of Camp Sevier. It remained there until the close of the war, after which it was moved back to its present location.

Given its storied history, protecting the school from potential fire hazard took on special significance. To ensure an optimal solution, Paris Elementary needed an addressable fire alarm control panel capable of dialing to a central station.

Ultimately, Blue Ridge chose to install the Fire-Lite MS-9200UD addressable fire alarm control panel. The MS-9200UD, which was installed in the mechanical room on the school's first floor, features auto-programming capabilities to reduce installation time and overall cost.

The technology includes a remote upload/download communicator that allows for reporting of system activity to a remote monitoring location. Using a Windows-based software package, the installer can command the system to program itself in less than a minute. The panel also contains built-in NAC synchronization for easier user interface and has a capacity of 198 addressable Fire-Lite devices on one loop.

Blue Ridge security complemented the system with ancillary equipment that includes:

• three Model H355 Thermal Detectors, addressable thermal sensors designed to provide open-area protection;

• 60 Model SD355 Addressable Photoelectric Detectors;

• 32 Model BG12LX Pull Stations, dual-action (i.e., requires two motions to activate the station) pull stations that include an addressable interface;

• one Model MMF301 Relay and Monitoring Module, a miniature Monitor Module used to supervise a Class B (Style B) circuit;

• 35 Model FL-CRF300 Six-Relay Control Modules; and

• 20 Model, FL-DS998 door hold-openers.

Blue Ridge Security also installed horns and strobes from Fire-Lite's sister company, System Sensor.

“It's a tremendous relief to know that our staff and students are safely protected, and it allows us to better focus on our primary goal of striving for each child to learn in a happy, structured environment,” says Sue Anne Link, principal at Paris Elementary School.

FOR THE RECORD

About the Companies

For information, circle the Reader Service number (listed below) or visit securitysolutions.com

Blue Ridge Security Systems	35
Fire-Lite Alarms	36
Honeywell	37
System Sensor	38

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