What’s Trending in the Fire Alarms and Evacuation Market?
With the rapid rise in popularity of building automation systems, the integration of fire alarms and evacuation systems is seeing a strong rise in demand. Here is a look at the current market trends, challenges and opportunities.
Izvor: a&s International
E-mail: redakcija@asadria.com
With the increasing awareness on the need for safety and prevention, fire alarm and evacuation solutions continue to see higher market demand. According to a report from the research firm Technavio, the global emergency alarm and evacuation market is expected to reach US$5.3 billion by 2021, growing at a CAGR close to 7 percent. Increasing awareness, government regulations and end-user demands are expected to be the major reasons for this growth.
The rising popularity of building automation solutions is also expected to fuel growth in this sector. However, Technavio pointed out that the current uncertainty over ideal wireless solutions and lack of awareness will hamper expansion for two more years. The market could see a rapid pick up after that.
In the fire alarms solutions market alone, the industrial sector is expected to see the most growth because of government regulations becoming stringent in developed and developing economies. Technological advancements such as wireless sensors, advanced detection systems and human machine interface (HMI) solutions are also among the factors encouraging customers to adopt solutions and boost the market.
Mass notification and evacuation systems are widely seen in the commercial sector. They make use of announcement systems, messages, emails and phone calls to provide real-time information in the event of an emergency. Some experts have pointed out that the recent developments in the field of the Internet of Things (IoT) have transformed the market, with the integration of business systems with emergency systems giving greater flexibility in operation. However, a major issue that still hurts the industry is the lack of standards for different structures that could lead to possible failure of control systems during an emergency.
A technology close to this market, and imparting significant influence on its development, is the digital addressable lighting interface (DALI). DALI is a wireless protocol and software integration that makes the lighting systems digital. Its deployment complements fire and evacuation solutions, and has proved to be extremely useful during an emergency situation.
The Current Trends Seen in the Market
Bringing the fire alarm and evacuation systems under one technological roof and integrating them to work together seamlessly is the main trend that is seen in the market. According to Thomas Parrish, VP of Integrated Systems at Telgian, more and more fire systems are being installed with voice systems so that there is no need for two separate setups to be put in place.
“We are seeing a lot of integrations,” Parrish said. “We are also seeing, in certain markets and verticals, the uptake of using the communication systems for other purposes like telephone, paging and background music.”
In fact, the integration of mass notification systems with fire alarms is widely seen as the most significant trend by many in the market. Some suggest that the need for intelligibility and clarity is crucial in this regard to managing audible as well as visual notification systems. The role of mobile technology is also becoming more and more important. Features like Real Time Location Services (RTLS), widely found in smartphones these days, can be integrated with security systems to expand the reach and effectiveness.
Rex Lam, Senior Consultant at Guardian Forest Security, stressed that the change in trends is reliant, to a significant extent, on the regulatory policies of a region. Depending on how proactive a particular government is towards meeting the requirements in the field, the market demands and trends could change. Speaking specifically of major Asian markets like Hong Kong, Singapore and Mainland China, Lam said that he could not see much change over the years.
“The trends have not been changing much because there are fire codes in different jurisdictions, regardless of where you are, may it be Hong Kong, Mainland China, Singapore, etc.,” Lam said. “This is because the fire system needs to be compatible with the local regulations first before other things can come into play. So, the trend has been to first meet the regulations and then try to integrate the solutions with building management systems. Of course, there are different ways to do this, there are several industry-wide protocols out there for you to integrate with other systems, but the key thing is before you apply the technology, you must understand what is the value of an integration. This will help the client understands why they are spending the money.”
Speaking of developments in technology, Lam added that solutions are becoming more and more sophisticated than before in reducing false alarms.
“Traditionally you would detect fire either by temperature or by smoke,” he said. “I have recently seen newer types of sensors that are also using CO as part of their detection technology in an effort to reduce false alarms. In any alarm system, false alarms are something that you are trying to avoid at all costs.”
The importance of local regulations was also stressed by Paul Wijnstra and Mirre Veerman, Fire Safety Consultants at Royal HaskoningDHV, as they spoke about the market conditions in the Netherlands. In most cases in the country, fire alarms and sounders for evacuation are integrated into a single control panel. But the integration of voice alarm systems is not permitted as per Dutch standards and hence has to be maintained on a separate control panel.
The Current Requirements in the Market
Needless to say, more and more verticals are interested in installing mass notification systems integrated with fire alarms. According to Parrish, sectors like healthcare were the early adopter of this but now establishments like schools are making it a requirement. There is also demand from other industries like the retail.
“More demand from what we would consider non-traditional markets,” Parrish said. “[For instance] in large single-story buildings we would use systems that would be useful for both paging as well as for emergency communications.”
According to Lam, the major requirement is to meet the government regulations. In many countries, regulators impose stringent checks on fire safety. Non-compliance with the rules could lead to problems for commercial as well as non-commercial establishments.
Going a bit more in detail on this, Wijnstra and Veerman added that the Dutch standards NEN 2535 and NEN 2575 define the requirements for fire detection and evacuation systems in the Netherlands. “For the fire detection system in the recently published 2017 edition, it is now allowed to have digital mimic panels,” they said. “This is due to the recently proven reliability which the Dutch fire detection standard prescribes to. For evacuation systems, sounders with programmed messages are now available.”
Technological and Market Challenges
As solutions become increasingly sophisticated and their integration requires multifaceted expertise, challenges in their implementation are also prone to rise. According to Wijstra and Veerman, for an evacuation alarm system with sounders to function effectively, the sounders and detectors should be combined in the same loop. Everything depends on programming the correct cause and effect to ensure proper integration.
“Voice alarm systems cannot be integrated into the same control panel,” they added, highlighting the Dutch standards again. “However, they are allowed to be connected into the same network. The challenge is to have both systems talk the same (software) language. Most of the time this is not possible and therefore they are connected with I/O modules.”
Lam noted that ensuring the devices work on a common protocol is a challenge in the field. For instance, there are several popular protocols like Modbus and BACnet. At the design phase itself, the consultants need to clearly specify the required protocols so that the integration can be completed without hassles.
Sometimes, infrastructural limitations too become a challenge in implementation, according to Parrish. Especially when it comes to older buildings or even historic architecture for that matter, installers will have to work around structures that are already in place. They will have very limited scope for making changes to the building. Parrish added that 3D design can be a solution to this to a large extent, as it helps in eliminating conflicts when running conduits, piping, and integrating with other devices. Quite often, there is a small space in the ceiling where you are looking to run all these together. If space is calculated and planned in advance through 3D design, there will be no conflict when it comes to the installation.
Limited Intrusion of Technological Advancements
Recent developments in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning have had an impact on the security surveillance industry. However, the fire industry still largely remains immune to such changes, sticking to traditional systems. A potential space where AI can be useful is in video-based fire detection. The analytic software required to detect smoke and fire from a video can make use of AI to become more efficient.
“Fire tends to be a little bit conservative with newer technologies,” Parrish said. “What we are seeing is systems like alarm verification, multidetector detectors, and so on. I see AI and other emerging technologies mostly in facilities that are getting systems like gunshot detection solutions.”
He added that there are also solutions such as smoke screens that are becoming popular in some areas. But the use of AI is largely limited to other security areas like facial recognition.
Lam agreed to this. However, he added that AI is a loosely defined term. Whenever we talk about AI, there are three factors that come into play. First is processing power, second is the sensor that captures information, and the third is algorithm powered by a software. Since fire solutions may be integrated with systems like access control and surveillance, AI can play a role in the larger purpose of the system – to get people to safety in the event of an emergency.
What the Future Holds
That integration is critical to better fire and emergency management is beyond question. What systems integrators and installers would need to look into, however, is how the integration technology evolves to bring in more devices in the future. As the trend of building automation systems and smart buildings pick up, fire alarm and evacuation systems could increasingly become a crucial part of the bigger picture. Finalizing standards and protocols would remain a hurdle in reaching this stage, but once this is done, market growth in this sector could see a rapid pace.
Tips for Systems Integrators in Fire and Evacuation
As market demand increases, systems integrators (SI) should ideally be able to find more business in this sector. However, we all know how this is easier said than done as factors like competition and market awareness continue to affect the business. So, what can SIs do to move ahead?
Ensuring a strong relationship with designers, developers, and solution providers is one major factor that Thomas Parrish, VP of Integrated Systems at Telgian, pointed out. There are a number of manufacturers out there now offering a variety of options to SIs, but the latter needs to know who has the best support in the region they work in.
Rex Lam, Senior Consultant at Guardian Forest Security, is of the opinion that SIs should begin to think more like consultants. When a client approaches you with a requirement, you should make them understand how the solutions can help reduce costs for them. For instance, what are the costs that the client would incur if a fire breaks out? How can they be mitigated with the right solutions in place? SIs should be able to get this point across to their customers effectively.
However, governmental regulations remain a hurdle for SIs in this field when it comes to innovation. According to Paul Wijnstra and Mirre Veerman, Fire Safety Consultants at Royal HaskoningDHV, as of now it is difficult to move beyond traditional systems in the Netherlands due to the way regulations work. However, moving forward, there are possibilities of technologies like video smoke detection systems getting regulatory approval and this should help SIs widen their offerings.
