American Permalight Luminous Exit-Path Markings
June 23, 2010 — "Five to one, baby / One in five / No here gets / Out alive." Ah, but The Doors would have been wrong had these luminous egress strips been around to help guide building occupants safely on their way out of fiery or otherwise dangerous buildings. And while these particular luminous strips from American Permalight from aren't new products per se, they do fall in line with two new safety codes that co-op boards and condo associations should become familiar with: The 2009 International Building Code (IBC) and the 2009 International Fire Code (IFC).
These components of the training, education and certification organization the International Code Council, which many municipalities adopt as law, require "luminous egress path markings" in multistory building staircases — including those of co-op and condo apartment buildings. Indeed, says the 33-year-old California company American Permalight, four of its product lines have received MEA (Material and Equipment Acceptance) approval by the New York City Department of Buildings in compliance with Local Law 26 of 2004.
Even before this, the company says, a study by the federal government's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) found that 33 percent of World Trade Center 1 evacuees and 17 percent of World Trade Center 2 evacuees during 9/11 reported they were helped by the American Permalight photoluminescent markings there — leading to photoluminescent exit-path marking requirements in New York City high-rise office-building staircases, plus changes to the National Fire Protection Association's NFPA 101 Life Safety Code.
And hey, if it's good enough to help keep office people safe, do your co-op / condo residents deserve any less?
That's a loaded question, of course, but valid at its core. And it's nothing that non-electrical, non-radioactive, code-compliant, UL1994-listed exit-path markings couldn't answer.
American Permalight, Inc. • 2531 W 237th Street, #113, Torrance, Calif. 90505 • (310) 891-0924 • toll-free ( 888) 737-6254 • info@americanpermalight.com
Share