The evacuation of commercial buildings can be inhibited by people’s failure to recognise standard emergency exit signs.
Research has shown that only 38% of people see conventional exit signs during an evacuation from an unfamiliar environment. Much of this is down to the proliferation of branding, advertising and informational signage in buildings such as shopping centers and airports which can distract attention away from exit signs.
To improve the visibility of signs, Eaton has introduced a new technology into its emergency lighting range called Increased Affordance. With Increased Affordance capability added to our emergency lighting it enables exit signs to flash or pulse (see video below) during an emergency evacuation making them much more visbile to occupants of buildings during an emergency situation.
The Increased Affordance (IA) function enables illuminated exit signs to flash or pulse, which makes them more visible and could therefore speed up the process of evacuation.
The technology is designed to support safer and faster evacuations by overcoming the delays that can arise when occupants struggle to identify exit routes indicated by conventional signs.
In an evacuation situation, occupants may become confused or inclined to return to the point where they entered the building, which can lead to overcrowding, congestion and delayed evacuation.
In their normal mode, the luminaires offer excellent visibility thanks to a high level of luminance that exceeds the minimum requirement in most countries.
When activated, increased affordance enables even better recognition by flashing or pulsing but never dipping below the minimum level of luminance that is established in industry standards, thus achieving full compliance.
(PDF 1 MB)
The time taken to evacuate a commercial building in an emergency can have a critical impact on the safety of occupants. Every second counts. By improving people’s ability to identify exit signs, they are able to respond more quickly and reach a safe place with a minimum of delay.
