If you wrote this editorial I'll buy you a drink next time…. If someone else buy him a drink and send me the bill.
On Thu, Mar 10, 2011 at 8:17 AM, George Church <[email protected]> wrote: > Intelligencer Editorial, Doylestown, Pa 3-9-11 > > MONEY SPOKE LOUDER than safety this week in Harrisburg, where House lawmakers > voted 154-39 to repeal a law requiring sprinkler systems in all new > residential construction. The bill now moves to the Senate. > The battle lines on this issue are clearly drawn: On one side are > firefighters and fire safety officials, who know from personal experience > that home sprinklers save lives and property; on the other side are Realtors > and home builders, who say that the additional cost of putting sprinklers in > new homes is a detriment to sales, particularly in a continuing weak housing > market. > Though the vote among local legislators was slightly against repeal, the > overall vote tally to do away with the sprinkler requirement wasn't even > close. Apparently, the builders have a stronger lobby than the firefighters, > and economic concerns are more persuasive than common sense. > The cost argument is legitimate, insofar as sprinklers do add to the price of > a new home. How much seems to depend on whether you talk to someone who > favors sprinklers or someone who's opposed to them. If you use a more-or-less > accepted price of, say, $1.65 a square foot, then the cost to put sprinklers > in a 3,000-square-foot house figures out to just under $5,000. In light of > the cost of a typical new house today - at least in our neck of the woods - > $5,000 more isn't a whole lot. Amortized over the life of a 30-year mortgage, > it's next to nothing. > The bigger the house, the more expensive the sprinkler system. But bigger > houses cost more whether they have sprinklers or not, and those houses > attract high-end buyers who aren't necessarily put off by the extra expense. > In addition, you can't discount that sprinklers may actually be a selling > point in a potential home sale. A fire-safe house has definite appeal. > Hard-wired smoke detectors, which are required, contribute to that appeal. We > think sprinklers would be a great complement. > We find it ironic that sprinkler opponents claim the law is especially > burdensome in rural communities. It's there, in areas not served by nearby > fire departments, that sprinklers can really prove their worth, limiting the > extent of fires or even extinguishing them while fire trucks are still miles > away. > If you weigh the initial financial outlay for a sprinkler system, whatever it > is, against the cost of a possible future tragedy that involves loss of life > + well, we're glad we were not among those who voted for repeal. > There's no debate about the effectiveness of sprinklers. They absolutely > work, which is why they're a standard part of commercial construction. > Sprinklers protect property and preserve lives, not only the occupants of a > building but those who respond to fight the fire. Don Konkle, a former > Harrisburg fire chief and executive director of the Pennsylvania Fire and > Emergency Services Institute, made the value of sprinklers perfectly clear: > "We could almost avoid all loss of life in sprinklered buildings." That's > from a man who knows all about the destruction fires can cause. > Lawmakers in the House saw the penny wisdom in repealing the sprinkler law. > But they missed the obvious pound foolishness of their decision. > > _______________________________________________ > Sprinklerforum mailing list > [email protected] > http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum > > For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] > > To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] > (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) > -- Ron Greenman Instructor Fire Protection Engineering Technology Bates Technical College 1101 So. Yakima Ave. Tacoma, WA 98405 [email protected] http://www.bates.ctc.edu/fireprotection/ 253.680.7346 253.576.9700 (cell) Member: ASEE, SFPE, ASCET, NFPA, AFSA, NFSA, AFAA, NIBS, WSAFM, WFC They are happy men whose natures sort with their vocations. -Francis Bacon, essayist, philosopher, and statesman (1561-1626) _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
