Fire and Smoke Damper Actuators | HVAC Fire Safety Solutions
Providing Life Safety in the McMenamins Elks Temple in Tacoma, Washington
This article is based on an American fire safety application according to UL standards and is therefore only available in English with technical terminology in American.
Constructed in 1915, the historic Elks Temple Building falls along Tacoma's (WA) well-known Broadway and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In 2012, the Elks Temple was acquired by the McMenamins; after more than four decades of being abandoned. The building renovation started in 2017 with an aim to restore and preserve to the early 20th-century architectural design and character of the theater adding a restaurant, bars, hotel rooms, event spaces, and an operational brewery. To protect the assets of the historic building and ensure the safety of the people, Belimo’s fire and smoke damper actuators were installed.
Technology that Saves Lives
The implementation of fire safety measures was to protect the Elks Temple historic building architectural heritage with limited scope for structural improvement. Along with ensuring the life safety of all guests and visitors to evacuate in complete safety in case of an emergency, and the protection of irreplaceable assets were of a high priority.
Building Safety
Tactical methods for smoke control are fans, smoke vents, and closed doors in combination with dampers. Strategy can vary with each situation. The Elks Temple counts on the reliability and safety performance of Belimo motorized fail-safe fire and smoke damper actuators to prevent the spread of fire and smoke throughout the building. The fire safety concept for the Elks Temple involves vigilance and fire-fighting strategies with alarms, automatic fire extinguishing equipment (sprinklers) separate from the HVAC system, and Belimo’s life safety actuators. The fire safety concept makes it possible in the case of an emergency for all guests and visitors to evacuate in a timely manner to safety and enabling firefighters the access to travel through the building emergency routes quickly to enable the protection of irreplaceable assets was of the utmost importance.
Motorized Fail-Safe Fire and Smoke Damper Actuators
The Elks Temple counts on the Belimo motorized fail-safe fire and smoke damper actuators for reliability and safety performance to prevent the spread of fire and smoke. The dampers are part of the barriers that prevent fire and smoke from moving out of the zone of origin. In an engineered smoke control system, the actuator opens and closes upon command to pressurize areas, extract smoke, or isolate zones as needed. Belimo was chosen for its precise tolerances and high-quality actuators.
Belimo’s Fire and Smoke actuators designed for reliable performance in extreme conditions. There is no need to be concerned about corrosion, peeling of the metal surfaces, or gears that stick causing the damper to get stuck in the open position. Belimo fail-safe actuators use brushless DC motor technology controlled by an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) that provides stall protection, lower power consumption, higher efficiency, and smaller transformer sizing. There is no need to be concerned with fretting, corrosion, and peeling of the metal surfaces that have caused some competitor actuator gears to stick together causing the damper to be stuck in the open position. Belimo fire and smoke actuators outperform and outlast the competitors. Belimo fail-safe actuators use brushless DC motor technology controlled by an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) that provides stall protection, lower power consumption, higher efficiency, and smaller transformer sizing.
Note: The product shown above is a country-specific solution. Refer to the regional website for designated information.
Elks Temple Heating, Ventilation, and Air Condition System
Anderson Construction Inc. with Emerald Aire Inc.
Andersen Construction has been working closely with the McMenamins and their design team over the last few years to achieve this historical renovation-building project successfully. Anderson Construction contracted with Emerald Aire Inc. as the design-build contractor. The Elks Temple installed a variable refrigerant flow and a heat recovery heat pump system for the primary method of heating and cooling throughout the entire building. A ventilation system to bring fresh air in and exhaust thru vents. Belimo actuators are connected to all dampers to control the airflow and exhaust throughout the building. Belimo damper actuators ensure performance, reliability and offer lower power consumption. The building ventilation system is supplied with eight energy recovery ventilators, four of which are rooftop mounted. The theater space has a dedicated rooftop unit with demand control ventilation. The two commercial kitchen hood systems have a fire suppression system and a makeup air, one on the first floor and the other on the fourth floor.
Andersen is performing a complete overhaul of the entire facility; exterior and interior, top to bottom to bring this building to full restoration to its early 20th-century architectural design and wonderment. The entire renovation has taken over 16 months with a total project cost estimate of $23 million.
McMenamins Elks Temple
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