AAMA releases new blast hazard mitigation specifications for vertical fenestration systems

The American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) has released AAMA 510-14, Voluntary Guide Specification for Blast Hazard Mitigation for Vertical Fenestration Systems. This document provides a guide for manufacturers, architects/specifiers, contractors, and building owners for specifying types of systems and services to meet the requirements of blast hazard mitigation.

Blast mitigation products are intended for the reduction of injuries and fatalities of occupants under defined blast criteria. The method of installing these products is as important as the product itself, and must be evaluated during testing and/or structural analysis, AAMA says.

“Unlike most AAMA documents, this one is primarily designed to be a roadmap for architects to use as a reference guide and format for specifying hazard mitigation products,” says Dennis Kelly (Graham Architectural Products), Chair of the Security Hazard Mitigation for Fenestration Products Committee.

(http://www.aamanet.org/news/1/10/0/all/1114/aama-releases-new-specification-for-blast-hazard-mitigation-for-vertical-fenestration-systems)

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.