Protect Your Building with a Reliable Lightning Protection System (LPS)
Lightning strikes have the potential to cause damage and losses to people as well as property. This type of natural disaster can create fires, building destruction or damage, power outages and in some instances, it can lead to loss of life. It doesn't matter if your property is residential, commercial or industrial in nature; lightning protection is essential.
Lightning Protection Systems (LPS) provide an alternative route to direct lightning into the ground which protects individuals, equipment, and buildings from harm. In this article we'll discuss the significance of having a LPS, the various components of LPS, and why your facility should consider installing one.
Why Buildings Are At Risk From Lightning Strikes
Buildings are at risk from lightning strikes for many reasons including the height of the building, the type/size of your roof, and the amount of electrical service installed. Buildings can still be exposed to indirect lightning strikes that can cause dangerous power surges to enter into equipment, as well as cause damage through fire.
There are many risks associated with being exposed to a lightning strike:
Structural damage: Building materials may suffer from cracks, burns or even explosion.
Electrical surges: All types of electrical equipment (computers, servers, machinery) can be negatively affected by extreme voltage spikes.
Fire hazards: A flammable material can ignite when struck by an electrical arc from a lightning strike.
Threat to human health: Individuals inside a building during a lightning storm may experience electrocution or injury due to an electrical discharge.
A lightning protection system (LPS) can be used to help reduce the risk associated with lightning strikes and provide safety for any person or item that may be in/around a building when being struck by lightning.
What is an LPS?
An LPS consists of a series of interconnected components designed to safely make contact with a lightning strike and channel the energy safely into the ground. This prevents uncontrolled discharges from occurring during a lightning strike; protecting both the building/its contents and individuals inside.
An LPS typically includes:
Air terminals (or lightning rods): These are the first component of the lightning protection system. They will be placed at the highest points on top of the building and can attract an incoming lightning strike before it reaches areas of lower elevation.
Conductors: These are low-resistance paths to carry the energy generated by the incoming lightning strike from the air terminals to the grounding system.
Grounding system: This series of grounds allows the channeled lightning energy to dissipate safely into the earth and prevents damage to the structure.
Surge protection devices (SPDs): SPDs protect the internal electrical and electronic devices from voltage spikes created by the lighting strike or near proximity strikes.
Benefits of Installing an LPS
1. Protects Human Life
The main purpose of any LPS is to protect the individuals inside a building. By installing the LPS properly, you will help keep the occupants of a building safe from either direct lightning strikes or the electrical surges caused when a strike occurs outside of the building.
2. Maintains Property Integrity
High winds/dominating storms can severely impact roofs, sides of buildings, and/or electronic wiring within a structure, as these structures can either be struck directly by lightning or affected by an electrical surge resulting from the lightning's discharge into Earth. By providing a path through which the energy from a lightning strike can be routed to the ground and away from the structure, lightning protection systems (LPS) minimize the damage that may occur to the structure as a result of those energy discharges.
3. Protects Your Business Franchise From Losing Money.
Many different types of industries rely on machinery and/or electronic equipment (office buildings, data centers, manufacturing). By incorporating lightning protection systems (LPS) into your facility, you significantly reduce/reduce the potential financial losses your organization could incur due to downtime from equipment failure, or expensive replacement of lost/failed machinery/equipment caused by uncontrolled electrical surges created by lightning.
4. Reduces the Risk of Fires
Lightning has the potential to create fires, either due to direct lightning strikes occurring on combustible materials or due to an electrical surge occurring as a result of an uncontrolled discharge of electric energy into the ground. By designing and installing a properly configured LPS, you can greatly reduce the likelihood of fire occurring due to lightning.
5. Meets Current Code Regulations.
Many modern construction codes and/or safety standards require that all newly constructed buildings incorporate some type of LPS. The requirements for an LPS usually relate to the height of a building and/or whether or not a building is defined as a critical facility. By installing an LPS you will be compliant with current code regulations for lightning protection.
Considerations for Choosing a Reliable LPS
All lightning protection systems are not alike. Factors to consider when selecting a reliable LPS include:
Height and Design of Your Building: Higher buildings will typically require more air terminals and much more precise routing of conductors.
Building Materials: Metal roof buildings, concrete structures, and other conductive building materials may change how the protection system is designed.
Location: Areas that experience frequent thunderstorms or lightning activity should be protected with very robust systems.
Compliance: Make sure that the LPS you select complies with the international Lightning Protection standard IEC 62305 or NFPA 780.
Installation: The LPS system must be designed and installed by a professional engineer to ensure that the protection system will effectively protect your building.
Reasons to trust iTorrent Industries for your Lightning Protection Systems
iTorrent Industries specializes in designing and manufacturing high-quality Lightning Protection Systems (LPS). Each LPS is tailor-made for your specific application and built using dependable and effective materials to ensure you have peace of mind with an LPS installed in your building.
Our highly trained engineers will work closely with you to assess the overall condition of your building and the location of electrical systems within the structure, so they can custom design the perfect LPS for you.
We only use high-quality materials when manufacturing our LPS. All materials used to manufacture the components of our LPS are made from corrosion resistant and extremely durable materials, ensuring that your LPS will be effective for years to come.
All of our engineering staff have the knowledge, skills and training necessary to perform the installation and maintenance of your LPS per all applicable international safety standards.
From the original design of your LPS to the installation and beyond, we provide full support for your Lightning Protection System.
There are many myths that surround Lightning Protection… however, the most common is:
“My building is too small to be struck by lighting.” The fact is lightning can hit any structure at any time, regardless of height, size or shape. In fact, if a building is the tallest object in its immediate location, then it is significantly more susceptible to a lightning strike than any of its neighbors.
“Lightning rods draw in lightning.” Lightning rods do not attract lightning strikes that aren’t already threatening your building; each rod is an efficient way to intercept lightning strikes that would hit other places on your structure.
“A lightning protection system (LPS) is also maintenance-free after installation.” You’ll want to perform regular inspections of the LPS to ensure it’s still working properly and providing you with (maximum) protection from lightning.
Conclusion
Lightning is unpredictable and can have devastating consequences. Protecting your building, people, and equipment is critical. A properly designed Lightning Protection System (LPS) by iTorrent ensures that lightning energy is safely conducted to the ground, preventing structural damage, fires, and electrical surges.