What does GREENGUARD Certified mean? It is the Testing and Certifying of interior building products and materials for low chemical emissions, to minimize chemical exposure of indoor environments. GREENGUARD GOLD offers stricter certification criteria, considers safety factors to account for sensitive individuals (such as children and the elderly), and ensures that a product is acceptable for use in environments such as schools and healthcare facilities.

As I am visiting a hospital today, I thought I'd share a bit of the door hardware on the patient room door.

The Privacy Door Latch (or PDL) was designed for the Hotel Industry. I believe that the PDL can also be used in a residential setting to prevent dependent people from leaving the home unattended such as sleep walkers, Dementia or Alzheimer’s patients who live at home with a spouse or care giver, even preschoolers that have figured out how to open a lever lockset.

Sargent is discontinuing the 8 Line series lockset effective October 15th 2015 and replacing it with the new 8X series Heavy Duty Knob Lockset

Replacing Surface Door Closers without re-drilling Holes in the Door – 22 Current Closer Screw Hole Patterns

The gap between the doors; that 1/8” of cold or hot air coming inside from the exterior. Thoughts and examples of solutions to improve your heating or air conditioning budget.

How Old is your Exit Device? Very Soon, Rail Exit Devices will be in the marketplace for 30 years! Sargent has changed the look of their exit device rails over the years. A picture is worth 1000 words! The Differences between the 20 Series, 30 Series, OLD 60 Series and the OLD and Current 80 Series.

Emergency Rescue door hardware is specially made hardware that will let the normally “in-swinging” door, swing out from the room if someone has fallen or if the door is being prevented from opening in its normal direction. Usually, a bathroom in a hospital will have this type of hardware.

Anti-ligature is the prevention of tying or binding. Anti-ligature devices are used to prevent vulnerable people from accidentally or intentionally harming themselves. Anti-ligature designed equipment is primarily used where people are considered to be 'at risk' such as Hospitals, Psychiatric Institutions, and Prisons. The whole room must be planned accordingly when considering Anti-ligature concepts. Door Hardware is one of the areas to be addressed.

To help you understand the differences between Norton's cast iron door closer and the LCN 4040XP, Norton has created an animation video that details what happens inside the closer during normal conditions and the importance of pressure relief valves during abusive situations.