Integrated doors provide long-term value

by Katie Daniel | April 6, 2015 9:33 am

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by Jennifer Manning
Specifying and installing doors and hardware has become increasingly complex. Integrated doors have emerged as a popular solution to combat this trend, and make it easier to select and install the correct product for many types of openings.

Integrated doors add considerable value regardless of the building type, with benefits that span industries. These assemblies have been specified and introduced into commercial, healthcare, and education spaces.

In an apples-to-oranges comparison, they appear to have a higher price tag than openings specified with the door and hardware purchased separately. However, these calculations fail to consider installation costs, time savings, and any reworking for code-compliance issues or improperly installed products.

When a traditional door is ordered, the accompanying hardware is not provided, shipped, or installed. The cost for the frame, door, and hardware are separate and will add up overtime, as do the hassles of keeping all the various products organized. Additionally, specifying integrated doors comes with many other advantages.

Ease of installation
One of the primary benefits of integrated doors is they simply make the process much easier, simpler, and less frustrating. If a door is ordered with different parts and functionality already integrated, additional parts are not required. In addition to saving time, this also saves the installers the inconvenience of arriving at the jobsite to find incorrect parts. This causes delays when the parts required are not available at the same time as the door. Integrated doors allow project teams to avoid the worry of various pieces of an opening’s hardware arriving at different times or being misplaced throughout the construction site.

One of the reasons integrated doors may be installed more easily is frames can be included in the order. This not only saves the time and hassle of having to specify frames are for each door, but it also eliminates the possible delays of receiving doors incorrectly sized for the frame.

Doors without properly installed hardware can add costs and delays to a project, while additionally putting building occupants at risk.

Fire
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 higher 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 also 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 onsite personnel will not have to install a metal edge guard in order to contain a fire in a positive-pressure environment.

Some integrated doors also include built-in intumescent substances that swell as a result of heat exposure—this process increases volume while simultaneously decreases density. In the United States, the method in which 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.

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Regardless of the type of space for which products are being specified—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 it also decreases the frustration sure to accompany manually installing door seals and other hardware.

Code compliance
In addition to making an aesthetic statement, doors play a significant role in a building’s overall ability to meet or exceed safety standards, or codes. This is yet another area in which integrated doors are simply a more efficient and less frustrating option.

In addition to fire safety, code issues are important for many reasons and in various settings. For example, the doors specified for hospitals are required to do a lot more than grant or deny light, air, or sound. The openings must be a specific width in order to allow passage for people using wheelchairs or on gurneys. Emergency personnel also rely on these passageways to move large equipment, and count on them being unobstructed.

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Ensuring a fire hose or some other piece of equipment does not get caught on a door handle is mandated by building codes such as California Health and Safety Code (Sections 13143 and 1.11) 2010 California Fire Code (CFC), and California Building Code (CBC). For some applications codes dictate hardware must be inset in order for it to be considered a completely clear opening.

There are other types of building codes and regulations making integrated doors a potentially better choice. For example, when in the process of selecting an integrated door, one should consider:

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FPA 252 for life safety;
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codes regulating opening width set by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD);
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Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for wood doors; and
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California Air Resources Board (CARB), which covers airflow.

A fully integrated door from a reputable vendor ensures the door and all its components are up to code, while a door not integrated complicates the installation process. Traditional doors also require the installer be properly credentialed and be able to verify each component to be installed into the door is code-compliant. Any money ‘saved’ is often spent quickly on ensuring everything and everyone is code compliant.

Design
For architects, finishes and textures are taken into account when determining the project’s overall design aesthetic. In the past, many designs could not be achieved with integrated doors because they were only offered in a few styles. Today, some manufacturers offer total customization of integrated doors, with various metal or plastic laminates, paint colors, and vision lites. They can also be color-matched to the wall and even installed with a pocket, which tucks the door out of sight to maintain design continuity.

Beyond the color and door positioning, the hardware influences the look and feel of an environment. Integrated doors can be customized to coordinate with the other hardware in the facility or disappear entirely, whether it is inset hardware for applications that require the lowest possible projections, or designer levers for fire doors that do not require a panic device.

Warranty
In terms of warranties, the advantages of integrated doors are simple, straightforward, and easy to explain. 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 headache of contacting 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.

Fortunately, the usual electrification options, including electrified dogging, alarm, latch retraction, and monitoring are all possible with integrated door systems. The complications introduced by security requirements, such as fire-rating complications, are simplified through specifying integrated doors. Security cannot be compromised for aesthetics, and selecting an integrated system not only meets security requirements, but often exceeds them.

This 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.

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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.

Above and beyond the benefits of integrated doors, everything specified for a project are, in many ways, a designer’s legacy.

Aesthetics might not be the most important feature of a fire door; however, its appearance has a definite impact on a room’s overall design. Design teams should make sure the vendor whose products are specified is designed to complement the doors while at the same time meeting safety 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.

Source URL: https://www.constructionspecifier.com/integrated-doors-provide-long-term-value/

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