[Greenbuilding] Fire Sprinkler Exemption?

[Gennaro Brooks-Church - Eco Brooklyn]

I have done this in a case where there was a mains water leak with no
accessible shutoff. Dry ice is easy to get and works great. You have a
time frame before the ice evaporates but it gives you plenty of time.
I know in some cases you can put up a fire escape on the outside of
the building instead of sprinklers.
If all else fails I would install the sprinklers and then install a
shut off. That falls in the realm of civil disobedience. You want to
do the right thing but it conflicts with outdated and ignorant laws.
Gennaro Brooks-Church
Director, Eco Brooklyn Inc.
Cell: 1 347 244 3016 USA
www.EcoBrooklyn.com
22 2nd St; Brooklyn, NY 11231


On Thu, Feb 7, 2013 at 6:58 PM, John Straube <jfstraube at gmail.com> wrote:
> It is sad that the sprinkler lobby have convinced code officials that sprinklers make sense.  There are many stories like this.
> I don't now how to argue for common sense.
> But, if you don't win, just install the sprinkler, and after the code officials leave, install a shut off.
> You can install a sprinkler by freezing the pipe as it enters the house (to create a plug), then cut the pipe on the house side of the plug, install a shutoff, leave it open, then let the plug thaw.
> I have heard of this down using liquid nitrogen, since this was available to the person (liquid N2 is used to keep bull semen frozen if you must know).
>
> John
>
> On 2013-02-07, at 5:39 PM, Frank Staub <fjstaub at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> FIRE SPRINKLER EXEMPTION?
>>
>> A neighbor's fire sprinkler accidentally discharged causing thousands of dollars worth of damage. He couldn't turn it off because the fire department doesn't allow a shutoff.
>> I was resigned to installing a sprinkler system in the strawbale house I'm building with mud plastered interior walls because I thought it wasn't possible for sprinklers to go off accidentally. Now I know that's false. So I'm going to oppose our Fire Department's requirement to install sprinklers. As many of you know, water is the big enemy of straw/mudplaster walls. A sprinkler discharge, accidental or not, could be catastrophic. In a load-bearing strawbale building it could mean demolishing the entire structure and rebuilding. In my case, a sprinkler discharge in the room containing the batteries, etc for my stand-alone solar electric system would be a tremendous tragedy.
>> Any input would be greatly appreciated. I'm interested in arguments against the requirement and contact info for people who have applied for exemptions even if they weren't successful.
>> If I succeed it could be a great benefit to future builders using mud and straw.
>>
>> Frank Staub
>>
>>
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