| Today's and tomorrow's world is digitally joined up. | | | | shift' with the advent of digital monitoring systems |
| Any system or service for the security monitoring of | | | | across the board, from the new generation of |
| buildings and enclosed places of all kinds has to be | | | | micro-cameras and remote monitoring over the |
| integrated and comprehensive to compete in an ever | | | | Internet to alarm devices pre-set to call mobile |
| more demanding and sophisticated market place. Dr. | | | | phones [cellphones] or even send SMS text |
| Lorcan Maher's message to security companies is | | | | messages. Today's and tomorrow's world is digitally |
| simple and blunt — embrace and include gas | | | | joined up. Any system or service for the security |
| detection and all other risks capable of being | | | | monitoring of buildings and enclosed places of all kinds |
| monitored electronically or risk being overtaken by | | | | has to be integrated and comprehensive to compete |
| new and broader spectrum systems and services | | | | in an ever more demanding and sophisticated market |
| based on today's smart building and facilities | | | | place." |
| management systems. | | | | His message to security companies is simple and blunt |
| The ultimate silent intruder is gas. Undetectable | | | | — embrace and include gas detection and all other |
| except, sometimes, by the human nose or by | | | | risks capable of being monitored electronically or risk |
| specialized detectors. With the right sensor for that | | | | being overtaken by new and broader spectrum |
| type of gas. Which could be noxious or even lethal. | | | | systems and services based on today's smart building |
| Or just toxic. Or flammable or even explosive. Smoke | | | | and facilities management systems. Active security |
| is better. Control room people can see it on screen, if | | | | monitoring services may survive longer but with |
| there is visual monitoring. And detectors are cheap | | | | smart modern electronic systems, passive monitoring |
| and cheerful. | | | | will be completely automated as part of a total |
| Some other types of gas are not usually harmful, | | | | facilities management type of service. "Its appeal to |
| cause little bother. But that includes refrigerants from | | | | the customer is going to be based on that very |
| leaks in equipment, which are expensive to replace | | | | ‘integrated, electronic, all risk' market strategy |
| and leakage can lead to malfunctioning. | | | | that the security industry is still spurning, possibly |
| The key point about gas detection for security | | | | because it fears losing its ‘specialist' cachet," Dr |
| companies is that they are missing a golden | | | | Maher warns. |
| opportunity, according to Dr Lorcan Maher, Managing | | | | Is this gas detection market really that appealing or |
| Director of MURCO, a manufacturer of advanced gas | | | | that important? Absolutely, Dr. Maher insists, pointing |
| detection equipment. "Gas detection is a fast growing | | | | out that almost every building has a gas detection |
| and profitable business area. It is being driven by | | | | problem of some sort. Offices and commercial building |
| more safety and occupational health legislation in | | | | typically have, for example, carbon monoxide in |
| most countries and also by the sheer expense of | | | | underground car parks and those valuable refrigerant |
| replacing modern, environmentally friendly refrigerants | | | | gases in air conditioning or data rooms and food |
| in food distribution and air conditioning, again driven | | | | retailing or hotel/restaurant food storage. Other |
| by tighter regulatory regimes." | | | | indoor air quality pollutants most mandated under |
| Advanced gas detection today is based on highly | | | | public or employee health regulations, including Carbon |
| accurate, long life electronic units, with sensors that | | | | Dioxide and VOCs [Volatile Organic Compounds], |
| can cover a broad spectrum of gases or target | | | | methane or LPG in boiler rooms, cooking and heating |
| specific or difficult to detect gases. "For a security | | | | applications. There can even be hydrogen risk in UPS |
| company, whether supplying and installing or offering | | | | battery arrays. |
| a monitoring service, the key point is that they are | | | | Industrial and municipal buildings have many problem |
| networkable. Gas detection units can be incorporated | | | | gases such as hydrogen sulphide, ammonia, and |
| into any security monitoring system, wired or | | | | methane in sewage treatment, chlorine and ozone in |
| wireless." | | | | water treatment or bottling applications, ethylene in |
| Dr. Lorcan Maher goes on to suggest that gas | | | | fruit storage, acetylene and oxygen for welding, |
| detection is as obvious a complementary role in any | | | | solvents, alcohols and VOCs in industrial processes |
| security planning and setup as, for example, smoke | | | | and CO2 in brewing and wineries. Public buildings such |
| and temperature detection and fire prevention and | | | | as cinemas, hotels, universities, airports, etc. share all |
| alarms. "The trend for the future is already clear as | | | | of these gas risks, as do passenger ships. The added |
| these monitoring tasks are being incorporated in | | | | dimension is simply that being public they bring in an |
| modern digital building management systems, which | | | | even wider range of regulatory compliance issues in |
| are certainly gaining a lot of ground in new building | | | | almost every jurisdiction. |
| where they can be designed into the specifications at | | | | The gas detection business is increasingly being driven |
| an early stage. But why should the security industry | | | | by legislation, against a background of increasing |
| yield market share to facilities management?" | | | | awareness of the risks and the knowledge that for |
| "The reason it is doing so, of course, is that security | | | | over two decades there has been satisfactory |
| people and companies have always regarded | | | | monitoring technology. As that gas sensor technology |
| themselves as specialists. Quite rightly, but the | | | | has developed and evolved, legislators and national |
| trouble is that in doing so they have become bound | | | | health and safety bodies have mandated appropriate |
| into a traditional range of risks. Yet this has all | | | | gas risk monitoring anywhere there are people or |
| undergone what the IT jargon calls ‘a paradigm | | | | even animals. |