Crime & Hurricanes
Hurricanes and crime
are similar in the damage that is done. Both forces attack our living
spaces and leave a path of destruction behind,
material damage as well as emotional distress. Results from a crime
attack are property damage, often times physical harm and in most
cases leave psychological damage. The results of a hurricane affects
us in a similar way.
Observing how we are protecting ourselves from such crime or hurricane
attacks, it suggests that we may re-evaluate our approaches and techniques
and start looking at these two treats as being the same.
Our first instinctive approach to ward of such attacks are very similar
also.
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Solution 1 plywood on the windows |
Solution 2 permanent metal screens |
Solution 3 impact resistant windows |
Although the temporary plywood
solution has worked well in the past, it comes with limitations as
to it’s use. One, you have to be
there when the storm approaches, you feel encapsulated and boxed in,
and the plywood has to be re-applied for every new storm. The permanent
protection in the center will protect from flying debris and intruders
but also negates the idea of having a window at all. The picture on
the left may seem like a normal window but in fact it is fortified
with impact resistant glass to protect flying debris from entering
the home.
How we can protect ourselves simultaneously against
crime and hurricanes ?
First, let us analyze how each element is impacting our property
and our lifes.
Hurricanes: After researchers from the Partnership for Advancing
Technology in Housing (PATH) studied how houses withstood the 2005
storms as well
as the kinds of damage the houses suffered, a surprising conclusions
surfaced.
Wind damage accounted for only a fraction of the destruction and
the real causes are flying objects and water intrusion. When flying
objects
pierce windows and doors, hurricane force winds enter the home.
The internal pressure causes the roof to blow off, resulting in
massive
structural and water damage.
Crime: In the aftermath of Katrina, property crimes increased to
a level never before seen. Even now, after New Orleans is policed
again,
statistic figures are amongst the highest in the country.
First point of intrusion is any one of the exterior doors. Mostly
by picking the locks and/or by breaking the locking mechjanism
or hinge
set. Especially vulnerable are sliding doors as they are simply
lifted off their tracks. The second choice is breaking the glass
of a window,
releasing the closing mechanism and entering.
What both treats have in common ist he fact that the original penetration
is through the windows/doors. Knowing this fact, it then suggest
that we can start designing a system of protection which addresses
both
treats, crime and hurricanes.
SwissShade windows and doors combine heavy-duty aluminum or steel
reinforced vinyl frames with impact-resistant laminated glass and
a multi-point
locking mechanism.
Laminated glass is constructed
by bonding a tough a Polyvinylbutyral (PVB) plastic interlayer between
two pieces of glass under heat and
pressure. Once sealed, the glass "sandwich" behaves as a
single unit and appears transparent, just like ordinary glass.
When objects break an impact-resistant window during a storm or by
the impact of an intrusion tool such as a hammer or crow bar, the opening
is not penetrated because of the strength and energy-absorbing capability
of the interlayer. People are protected because the glass fragments
adhere to the interlayer.
Fringe benefits of laminated glass are protection of the interior of
the home from the sun's damaging UV rays, filtering out up to 99 percent
of the harmful rays.
The interlayer and the weight of the glass also provides noise abatement
that is greater than double-pane insulated glass. For example, the
dB value of standard insulated glass jumps from 32 dB to 42 dB for
an A 3 laminated security glass.
These laminated glass panes can be designed and built to many different
security levels, from a burglarproof / hurricane resistant levell all
the way to a bulletresistant level, protecting against bullets from
pistols and rifles. The following tables give you an idea as to the
different levels and their respective thickness and weight:
Multi-Point Locking mechanism: Each opening window and/or balcony door
has an integrated and multi-point locking mechanism with a minimum
of 7 cam locks per opening.
Like in a safe, this technology locks he sash into the window/door
frame, all the way around. In addition, this mechanism allows you to
tilt the window inwards on top AND/OR open the window by turning it
inside like a casement window. The tilt mode allows you to get fresh
air while still being protected against intrusion. The turn mode allows
for a quick escape route if so needed.
