United Nations World Headquarters Complex - New York City
DuraGlow® Photoluminescent Egress System Installation
Click here to read UN testimonial letter
The landmark 1.4 million square foot United Nations World Headquarters building complex in New York City houses a large, diverse international community of diplomats and support personnel. Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the New York World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the United Nations engaged SUMA Industries to provide a fail-safe emergency egress way-finding system to guide building occupants from their offices and work stations to the stairwells and out of the building in the event of a fire or other life-threatening emergency.
Background
The UN Secretariat building consists of 39 stories above ground with offices distributed along the perimeter of a long corridor and larger work areas assembled at each end. In addition, short dead-end corridors leading to other offices branch off from the main corridor in 4 separate locations. Two fire stairwells are located at opposite ends of the main corridor.
Below ground are 3 basement levels that extend for several city blocks. The basement levels house numerous office clusters, satellite corridors of varied length, cul-de-sacs – some with exit doors, others without -- and a host of workshops, mechanical, electric and storage rooms. The corridors are also punctuated with a number of unmarked rooms housing security and monitoring facilities. 28 fire stairwells connect the basement levels to the main building lobby or the outside.
DuraGlow® System
The UN considered and evaluated electric, mechanical and chemical systems to illuminate the egress pathways during a fire, power blackout or other emergency, but ultimately a photoluminescent egress pathway marking system that does not rely on any external energy source for activation was chosen as the only fail-safe system. Photoluminescent safety products absorb and store energy from ambient light. When the lights go out, the stored energy is released and instantly begins to emit a luminous glow that continues to glow for 8 hours or longer. Safety-grade photoluminescent products recharge automatically and rapidly as soon as light is restored, ready to glow for another 8 hours.
DuraGlow® acrylic photoluminescent products were chosen following an exhaustive competitive evaluation. The principal factors contributing to the DuraGlow® selection were:
The bright enduring luminescent glow generated by the Strontium Oxide Aluminate photoluminescent pigment used exclusively in DuraGlow® safety products. Every DuraGlow® product contains an intense concentration of pigment to insure a brighter initial glow followed by a shallow illumination decay curve to yield a sustained clearly visible afterglow.
The high-impact durable nature of the DuraGlow® acrylic material coupled with a manufacturing process that evenly disburses the pigment crystals within the acrylic sheet to provide uniform afterglow illumination, even after repetitive exposure to cleaning solvents and shocks from contact with heavy moving objects.
The ease of installation and cleanliness associated with the DuraGlow® acrylic products.
Implementation
Above-Ground Corridors: All above-ground corridors were marked with discrete 5-inch long DuraGlow® acrylic single and bi-directional arrows and rectangles spaced 36 inches apart.
Single-head arrows point:
To the nearest exit from the far ends of the main corridor and
Out of satellite corridors toward the main corridor.
Double-head arrows and rectangles mark main corridor pathways between the exit stairwells, signaling a choice of exit routes to fleeing occupants.
The arrows and rectangles are placed above the floor molding at 36-inch intervals along the entire length of the corridor.
As one approaches a stairwell door, a DuraGlow® UL 924-compliant EXIT sign installed adjacent to or on the exit door 12 inches above the floor identifies the stairwell door, and a circular DuraGlow® marker pinpoints the location of the door latch handle. Smaller arrows placed on the stairwell door frame point inward toward the door.
Emergency Egress Stairwells
Each stair step is marked with two discrete 1.25” wide X 4.75” long floor proximity DuraGlow® acrylic arrows, one on each side of the step.
Main and Intermediate Landings are marked with 2” wide X 6 5/8” long arrows applied on the facing and adjacent down-turning walls. In addition, one of these arrows is applied at an angle above and parallel to the top end of the wall-side handrail.
Handrails are marked with smaller 1.25” wide X 3” long arrows pointing in the direction of egress. Wall side handrails are marked with arrows applied at an angle parallel to and 6 inches above the rail. Free-standing handrails are marked directly on the rail with self-adhesive arrow appliqués.
are marked with appropriate stair identification signs. ADA-compliant (Americans With Disabilities Act) Braille/tactile STAIR LETTER – FLOOR
NUMBER – Re-entry information and STAIR ID signs are applied adjacent to or on the stairwell interior and occupant sides of the door respectively.
An arrow marking system similar to that employed above ground is also applied in the basement level corridors. However, extremely long uninterrupted corridors intersected by numerous branching corridors offer the potential for serious confusion during an emergency. Accordingly, enhancements have been added to facilitate movement of fleeing occupants toward the numerous exit stairwell doors. These enhancements include floor-proximity directional exit signs installed on both sides of all exit door corridor junctions. Each stairwell door is marked on the occupant side with a DuraGlow® UL 924 EXIT sign and an ADA STAIR LETTER sign; the stairwell side is marked with an ADA STAIR LETTER – FLOOR NUMBER – Re-entry information sign. All fire hose and fire extinguisher stations are marked with appropriate DuraGlow® signs. Large DuraGlow® single and bi-directional arrowheads are placed at floor-proximity and eye level at strategic locations to enhance egress pathway visibility and signify areas where obstacles obstructing pathways can impede the free-flowing movement of fleeing occupants.
Ultimately, DuraGlow® high-impact acrylic photoluminescent emergency egress pathway marking systems, manufactured exclusively with safety-grade Strontium Oxide Aluminate pigment, provide a fail-safe, cost-effective, environmentally friendly way-finding system that illuminates the various paths of egress out of the United Nations complex during a fire, blackout or other emergency situation.