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From the Editor's Desk
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Welcome to the April issue of The Halon Herald!
Finally the flowers and trees are starting to bloom. Now is the time to clean out the old and bring in the new! So this month we present to you some fresh info on answers to some myths about clean agents, NAFED's upcoming 50th anniversary, and an upcoming free SFPE webinar. Check out all of this and more! As always, please feel free to direct to me any questions, comments or suggestions as they are always welcome!
- Kari
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Fike Tackles Clean Agent Myths | 
What You've Heard: It's not cost effective to protect assets with clean agent systems. On the surface, the cost of installing a fire suppression system may seem an unnecessary addition to an already high-budget project. However, data centers which are one of the prime applications for clean agents, are operating with rising densities (or processing power). The byproduct of this trend is increasing heat issues within the data center environment and the subsequent risk for a fire event. The conventional air flow model designed for cooling this data rich environment is proving inadequate, leading the industry to adopt more sophisticated heating and cooling management technologies such as containment, adiabatic cooling and other forms of free air cooling. While the industry continues the improvement of cooling technologies, the rising heat also raises the risk of fire, potentially leading to catastrophic "down time". Based on cost estimates submitted to Emerson Network Power, the average loss of a data center due to downtime is approximately $5,600 per minute, or $505,500 for one downtime event (based on the average 90-minute downtime). Replacements due to equipment destruction or failure averages adds approximately $9,000 per event. While downtime can occur for various reasons, fire protection is a simple preventative tool to ensure the most favorable conditions and remove unnecessary vulnerability. Read the full presentation here.
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NAFED Celebrates 50th Anniversary | 
Chicago, ILApril 11, 2013The National Association of Fire Equipment Distributors (NAFED) is happy to announce the celebration of its 50th anniversary year. Founded in 1963, NAFED started with 82 member companies primarily from the Midwest and East Coast and now represents over 1,000 companies in all 50 US states, Canada and several foreign countries. NAFED's 50th anniversary celebration will culminate in a celebratory gala at the Swissôtel in Chicago on May 24, 2013. To read the full article on this, click here.
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Fike Contributes 50,000 Trees |
Powder Bulk Solids
March 14, 2013
Fike Corp. announces the contribution of over 50,000 trees to American Forest's Global ReLeaf program. As another element within Fike's sustainability initiatives, in August 2012 Fike launched the ECARO-25plus program, designed to more than neutralize the carbon footprint of its premier clean agent fire suppression product, ECARO-25. The goals of the ECARO-25plus program include counteracting at least 100 million pounds of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere annually, and adding resources that support the reduction of carbon emissions.
"Fike's advanced ECARO-25 clean agent system delivers superior performance with less clean agent and has proven to be one of the most effective ways to suppress fires. However, like all current clean agent gases, it does have some global warming potential (GWP)," explained Brad Stilwell, Fike director for fire protection mechanical products. "So to help us reach our goals through the ECARO-25plus program, Fike has been investing a portion of all ECARO-25 sales in American Forest's Global ReLeaf program, designed to help areas which are in need of reforesting due to human consumption and natural disasters."
Click here to read the full article.
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The Continued Evolution of Clean Agent System by Jeff Harrington |  Presented at the 2013 SFPE Greater Atlanta Fire Safety Conference
March 19, 2013
The Harrington Group's Jeff Harrington was asked to speak at last week's SFPE-Greater Atlanta Chapter's 9th Annual Fire Safety Conference at the Gwinnett Center located in Duluth, GA. The conference is one of the most prevalent and well-attended fire safety conferences in the nation that provides professional development hours for those attending.
Jeff's presentation, "Continued Evolution of Clean Agent Systems" was held on Wednesday, March 13th and reviewed the evolution of certain clean agent fire suppression system design requirements. Before the 1990's, the two most predominant gaseous agents used in fire suppression systems were Halon 1301 and carbon dioxide (CO2). Each agent had its own NFPA design and installation standard. However, in response to environmental protection regulations, production and import of Halon 1301 in the US was halted as of January 1, 1994. New Halon replacement agents emerged, known as clean agents. As a result, a new, more complex NFPA standard was developed to accommodate the growing number of new clean agents. Three changes published in the 2012 edition of NFPA 2001 were reviewed during Jeff's presentation: Actuator solenoid supervision-in-place requirement with future effective date; Class A surface fire hazard design concentration safety factor modification; and Class C fire hazard design concentration safety factor increase.
To read more on this presentation, click here.
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Eurostar Replaces Halon with Powdered Aerosol | 
12 March 2013
EUROPE: Following approval by the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority, Brush Traction is replacing the Halon-based fire suppression equipment in the power cars of Eurostar's high speed trains with Stat-X systems supplied by Nobel Fire Systems.
The Stat-X generators can be activated either manually or automatically in the event of an onboard fire, producing an ultra-fine, potassium-based aerosol.
Nobel Fire Systems says the compact and lightweight Stat-X aerosol generators are very cost-effective to install and maintain, as they do not require the pressure vessels and piping associated with other fire suppression systems.
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Free SFPE Webinar on Advanced Technologies in Clean Agent Systems |
A Free Webcast Presented by The Society of Fire Protection Engineers
Date: Thursday, April 25, 2013
Time: 2:00pm ET / 11:00am PT
One of the challenges in fire protection is providing proper suppression systems in sensitive areas with high dollar equipment or irreplaceable artifacts. For years clean agent systems and early detection has been a large part of this solution. However, as the areas we are protecting become more challenging due to unique designs we need to turn to new technologies that outperform the current mindset. Location of cylinders, pipe sizing and multi zone systems can all play an important role in providing optimal solutions to these difficult applications. In this presentation we will explore advancements in higher pressure Novec 1230 and FM200 systems. We will review new cutting edge technologies that will allow for selector valve systems never before done with certain chemical agents. These systems allow for greater design flexibility and can be cost effective. If you are designing fire protection solutions for data centers, archive storage, IT rooms or any sensitive areas like these, you will not want to miss this educational presentation.
There is no charge to attend this webinar.
Members of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers will receive 0.1 CEUs for participation in the entire live webinar.
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FSSA News
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 FSSA Annunciator
April 2013FSSA Welcomes New Members2013 FSSA Ed Scholarship awards $17,500 to Deserving Students in Fire Protection
The Educational Foundation of the Fire Suppression Systems Association is pleased to announce the winners of the 2012-13 scholarship competition. Each year, the Foundation provides financial support to outstanding young students connected with the fire protection industry to help them meet their ever-rising cost of a college education.
This year's winners are:
$5,000 Scholarship in the name of Jim Boyer - Matthew Gentzel - University of Maryland College Park
$5,000 Scholarship in the name of Chuck Hooper - Joshua Swann - University of Maryland College Park
$5,000 Scholarship - Joseph Praydis - University of Maryland College Park
- Justin Biller - California Polytechnic State University
Awards are made on the basis of candidates' academic success, interest, special abilities, financial need and other factors. For more information, contact FSSA headquarters or visit www.fssa.net.The foundation is supported by contributions and grants from individuals, companies and business groups in the fire protection industry. All monies received are used 100% for scholarships. Contributions are tax deductible. FSSA Supports SFPE Corporate 100 Program The SFPE Corporate 100 Program was founded in 1976 to strengthen the relationship between industry and the fire protection engineering community. Membership in the program recognizes those who support the objectives of SFPE and have a genuine concern for the safety of life and property from fire. FSSA is a current supporter of this program. For more information, please visit SFPE's website. FSSA 2014 Annual Forum - San Diego SAVE THE DATE! The FSSA 32nd Annual Forum location is confirmed. Mark your calendar for February 22 - 25, 2014. Book your hotel reservations now at the Loews Coronado Bay Resort by calling 1-800-815-6397 and just mention the FSSA Room Block. FSSA has a special group rate of $219/per night.
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Wesco News | |
Here is our own Heather Reedy, at the NAFED show in Atlantic City.... If you were there, did you get a chance to speak to her?
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Upcoming Events
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PAFED Spring Conference 2013
- April 23-24
- Ramada Inn & Conference Center
1450 South Atherton
State College, PA 16801
814-238-3001
- Overnight Room Rate: $78.00
NAFED 2013 Conference - Chicago
Date(s): May 23, 2013 - May 24, 2013 Location: Swissotel Chicago, 323 E. Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60601 For more info, click here. NFPA 2013 Conference - Chicago
Date(s): June 10, 2013 - June 13, 2013 Location: McCormick Place Convention Center, 2301 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60616 For more info, click here.
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Most Popular Stories from March 2013 |
These are the stories in our last issue that got the most clicks. If you haven't already, check them out! |
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If you have any questions, comments, would like to be featured in a future Halon Herald, or would like to be added to our mailing list for this newsletter, please contact Kari Buser at kbuser@ushalonbank.com. WESCO HMB
1.800.433.1751
www.ushalonbank.com
OUR BLOG
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