Lightning Protection

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bwyllie

Senior Member
Location
MA
what are people's opinion's on lighning protection for new property. I know in theroy it is a good idea but what about when the owner is looking to VE items out. Specifically on an 11 floor resdiental building??
 
ron

ron

Senior Member
Location
New York, 40.7514,-73.9925
Re: Lightning Protection

Unfortunately, value engineering means to remove all that is not code or insurance company required.
So, first out is lightning protection, TVSS', portions of lighting control not required by code, non-utility metering, Article 702 Generators, high efficiency anything, busway turns into conductors/conduit, well known manufacturers of anything, circuit breaker distribution turns into fused switches, fully rated equipment turns into series rated equipment (AIC), etc.
 
charlie b

charlie b

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Lockport, IL
Occupation
Retired Electrical Engineer
Re: Lightning Protection

Originally posted by ron: Unfortunately, value engineering means to remove all that is not code or insurance company required.
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Unfortunately, you are right. But that is not what ?value engineering? should be, and that is why I cringe when I hear the word ?engineering? used in this context. Here is what the VE process should be:
</font>
  • <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">(1) The designer said to do THIS.

    (2) Code minimum is THIS OTHER.

    (3) Doing more than the code minimum will cost THIS MUCH, and will gain you THIS ADDITIONAL BENEFIT.

    (4) OK, Mr. Owner (or Ms. Owner), it is your call: Is that additional benefit worth that much extra money to you?</font>
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">
I know that I didn?t answer the original question, but I don?t think I can. I could find out how much extra money it would cost to install lightning protection. I could look at the governing standard, to see the likelihood of a lightning strike in that area. I could calculate the dollar value (i.e., benefit) of the added protection. I could then present the owner with useful information that could help in the decision process. But there are too many variables to give a generic answer.
 
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