The long-term value of integrated doors

by Katie Daniel | December 4, 2015 10:55 am

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By Jennifer Manning
Specifying and installing doors and hardware has become an increasingly complex process. To address some of the associated challenges, some project teams are turning to integrated doors, which have emerged as a popular choice for simplifying the purchasing and installation of many types of openings.

Considering all the proven advantages of integrated door systems suitable for environments ranging from commercial to healthcare to education, why would these assemblies not be specified? In a word, cost. While it is true the sticker price for a door without integrated components is less than an integrated door, this is where the ‘savings’ both begin and end.

On the other hand, there are numerous ways integrated doors provide greater value at a lower cost over the long run. For starters, all the parts and pieces arrive at once. Since they are fully assembled, they are easier—and more affordable—to install. Integrated doors are also designed to provide a higher level of safety for occupants during fires and other disasters. Finally, they are assembled with an eye toward compliance, which spares users from having to confirm each piece of hardware meets various codes and other regulations. This is particularly important when project specifying for government or healthcare facilities, which must adhere to strict regulations on everything from the width of an opening to the installed hardware’s size.

This article offers a closer look at how integrated door solutions can be a suitable way for designers and specifiers to provide clients more quality and long-term value.

Initial cost
In a strictly apples-to-oranges comparison, integrated doors have a higher price tag than openings specified with the door and accompanying hardware purchased separately. These calculations, however, fail to consider installation costs. The more pieces that need to be installed, the more time—and labour wages—it takes to complete the job. Even more time is required when code-compliance issues arise or products are improperly installed.

Simply put, when a traditional door is ordered, the accompanying hardware is not provided, shipped, or installed free of charge. Those costs add up, not to mention the hassles of keeping it all organized and on track.

Quicker installation
Integrated doors can make the installation process easier, by not only reducing additional costs, but also alleviating frustration for the project team.

Integrated doors eliminate the need to place separate orders for the hardware required to make the door fully functional. This obviously reduces delays, but it also saves the installers the inconvenience of arriving at the jobsite and discovering the wrong parts were ordered. Integrated doors also can avoid any frustration that comes with pieces of an opening’s hardware arriving at different times and, as a result, are misplaced at various points throughout the construction site.

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Frames play a major role in the way integrated doors can be installed more easily and quickly. This is because the frames can be included in the order, which saves the time and hassle of specifying a frame for each door. Of course, it also eliminates the possible delays of receiving doors incorrectly sized for their frame.

While the savings of time, frustration, and ultimately, money are clear benefits of an integrated door, there are other advantages that are not always so apparent. Doors without properly selected and installed hardware not only add costs and delays to a project, but they can also put the building occupants at considerable risk in emergency situations such as storms and fires.

Benefits of fire safety
The most important thing about products designed to preserve property and provide occupant safety during a fire is they help save lives. Additionally, having a building with doors meeting or exceeding the highest standards when it comes to fire safety also carries a monetary benefit. First, it makes the space worth more. Secondly, higher safety can result in lower insurance premiums.

When specifying fire doors, the first step is to consider the appropriate fire rating for an opening. These ratings typically range from 45 minutes to three hours, depending on the door’s material structure, such as metal or wood.

An integrated door meets National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 252, Standard Methods of Fire Tests of Door Assemblies, which is a greater standard than NFPA 80, Standard for Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives. The integrated door assembly is not only tested on specifics of the door component, but as a total unit. This provides a more dependable, accurately fire-tested assembly. Integrated door solutions designed for fire safety include seals applied around the door’s edges to keep smoke out. Another benefit of selecting a door including a seal kit is the fact that the occupants will not have to pay for and install a metal edge guard in order to contain a fire in a positive pressure environment.

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Some integrated doors also have an intumescent substance built into the assembly. This material swells as a result of heat exposure—a process that increases volume while simultaneously decreasing density. In North America, the way a door with intumescent is configured and installed is specified and regulated by law. Any reputable vendor offering doors with built-in intumescent will guarantee code compliance, enabling a safety measure.

Regardless of the type of space products are being specified for—whether hospitals, hotels, or community college classrooms—fire safety is critical. The wrong doors, or even the right doors improperly installed, can be a safety hazard for occupants. Choosing a door with integrated fire-safety functionality not only increases safety, but also decreases the frustration sure to accompany manually installing door seals and other hardware.

Code compliance
Beyond fire codes, there are many areas in which buildings need to demonstrate they meet standards or guidelines for specific things. As is the case with fire safety, a building’s code compliance has the potential to influence things like insurance premiums and the value of the space.

This is particularly important for hospitals and other medical facilities, where the doors specified must do a lot more than grant or deny penetration of light, air, or sound. The openings must be a specific width in order to allow passage for people in wheelchairs or on gurneys. Emergency personnel also rely on these passageways to move large equipment, and count on them being unobstructed.

Ensuring a fire hose or some other piece of equipment does not get caught on a door handle is mandated by building codes. Hardware must be inset for it to be considered a completely clear opening.

A fully integrated door from a reputable vendor ensures the door and all its components are up to code. A non-integrated door can complicate the installation process, and require the installer to verify each component to be installed is code-compliant—extra steps, again, that add up to more costs.

Warranty
In terms of warranties, the monetary advantages of integrated doors are simple, straightforward, and easy to explain. Warranties ensure the door and all its parts work as long as they are supposed to. If something fails, the part can be replaced, saving the hassle—and cost—of replacing the entire solution.

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When all the hardware is produced and factory-installed by the same company, there is only one person to contact and one source responsible for sending a replacement part. This eliminates the need to contact multiple manufacturers and guarantees delivery of the correct hardware for the door.

Before a selection is made, specifiers should ensure the integrated door purchased comes with a warranty that covers the door as well as the components. This way, if just one part is damaged, the entire door does not have to be replaced.

Security
It is impossible to ignore the increasing importance of security. It has become a critical part of building management, particularly when facilities are designed to serve the general public. And, like most other things, it is not free.

Fortunately, the usual electrification options, including electrified dogging, alarm, latch retraction, and monitoring are all possible with integrated door systems. Security cannot be compromised for esthetics, and selecting an integrated system not only meets security requirements, but also often exceeds them.

The level of integrated functionality is an important tool for preventing crime by controlling access. The tamper-resistant hardware makes it difficult for unauthorized personnel to gain access once the integrated door assembly is in a secure position. Since the functionality is integrated, it does not require costly customizations and installations.

Conclusion
There are reputable vendors that design, manufacture, and market doors and door hardware products specifically to the commercial, industrial, and institutional building construction industry.

Esthetics might not be the most important feature of a fire door; however, its appearance has a definite impact on a room’s overall design. The specified products should be designed to complement the clean lines of modern doors while at the same time meet all safety, fire, and access codes.

Jennifer Manning is the product manager for Adams Rite–Rite Door Assa Abloy EMS and OEM Group. She has been with Assa Abloy for 16 years and has extensive knowledge in the door and hardware industry. Manning can be contacted by e-mail at jenn.manning@assaabloy.com[5].

Source URL: https://www.constructioncanada.net/the-long-term-value-of-integrated-doors/

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