plastic translucent panels for suspended ceilings

#Plastic translucent panels for suspended ceilings install#

This article explores a third approach-drop-out ceilings. Lighting efficiency also is decreased because at least 70% of any light impinging on the ceiling from below is lost into the cavity above, and at least 30% of lumens from above-ceiling lamps are blocked if using a luminous ceiling scheme. If the ceiling consists of egg crate, louver, or honeycomb panels, the ceiling can restrict the sideways travel of the sprinkler discharge. This still leaves the structure and services significantly exposed and presents many of the same drawbacks as having no ceiling.

#Plastic translucent panels for suspended ceilings install#

Plus, exposed services provide surfaces that collect dust and grime and may not be permitted in occupancies requiring hygienic conditions.Īnother approach is to install sprinklers above a ceiling system with 70% minimum open area as permitted by NFPA 13: Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems, 2016 edition, Paragraph 8.15.14. Ironically, this approach may not be the most economical if it adds the cost of painting overhead surfaces, exercising more care in locating the ducts, pipes, conduit, and other exposed-to-view services, and installing sound-absorbing materials to satisfy acoustical criteria. One can, of course, simplify sprinkler and ceiling coordination by eliminating suspended ceilings and leaving the structure exposed.

* Get sprinklers out of occupied spaces where they can be damaged or difficult to clean. * Satisfy architectural concerns about the visual impact of sprinklers * Reduce sprinkler and ceiling installation costs * Simplify coordination of sprinkler and ceiling location Surely, they intuit, there must be a way to: Yet at the same time, many designers yearn to unshackle sprinklers from ceilings. Sprinklers, the mind insists, must project into the space they protect so they can release their deluge without interference-even if it means cutting holes in ceiling panels and dropping pipes so sprinklers extend to the underside of the ceiling.

The very idea of suspending ceilings beneath automatic fire sprinklers sounds topsy-turvy.