Lori Greene

About Lori Greene

Lori is the Manager, Codes and Resources for Allegion, and the creator of iDigHardware. With more than 35 years of experience in the door and hardware industry, in her current role she focuses exclusively on the code requirements that apply to door openings.

Ohio Barricade Bills

If you live and/or work in Ohio, it is not too late to talk to the state legislators in your district(s). If you call their offices, you may be able to talk to them directly or get an email address. The Door Security and Safety Foundation has compiled some information that might be helpful to send along with your concerns...

By |2015-06-15T12:18:11-04:00June 15th, 2015|Means of Egress, School Security|0 Comments

FF: Ohio

As many of you know, on Fridays I usually post a photo of a creative way someone has solved a door problem, which is often non-code-compliant and unsafe. If you've arrived here today looking forward to this week's Fixed-it Friday photo, I apologize because I have to write about another type of "creative problem-solver" today.

By |2018-02-06T22:46:23-05:00June 12th, 2015|School Security|9 Comments

Can fire exit hardware be installed on a non-fire-rated door?

As much as I like black/white-yes/no answers, sometimes it's not that easy.  This is one of those questions, and it keeps coming back.  Here's the scenario...I have an exterior aluminum door serving a large Assembly occupancy, with no fire rating required.  I don't need the ability to dog* the device, and I have fire exit hardware left over from a previous project.  Can I install the fire exit hardware on the aluminum storefront door?

By |2015-06-18T10:03:27-04:00June 11th, 2015|Panic Hardware|16 Comments

School Liability and the Law of Unintended Consequences

MANY people have asked me about the potential for liability if a school chooses to secure their classroom doors using a barricade device that inhibits or deters egress. Could a school be held liable? I didn't know the answer, so we enlisted the help of an attorney to help us understand the considerations...

By |2015-06-09T23:29:04-04:00June 9th, 2015|Locks & Keys, Means of Egress, School Security|2 Comments

What happened in Ohio?

As many of you know, a public hearing with the Ohio Board of Building Standards was held last Friday.  This hearing was part of an ongoing discussion about whether Ohio should allow barricade devices to be used to secure classroom doors.  There was a previous hearing where invited speakers presented their views; on Friday the podium was open to anyone who had something to share with the Board.  These hearings were prompted by the filing of bills in the Ohio House and Senate, summarized as:

By |2017-08-04T13:42:13-04:00June 8th, 2015|School Security|16 Comments

Real Openings: Mean Means of Egress

Who would have thought the readers of Doors & Hardware magazine would embrace a monthly column on the code requirements for door openings, let alone TWO monthly (or almost-monthly) columns on the topic? My friend Mark Berger of Securitech Group has given me permission to share his June column here. I don't know how he finds these openings...

By |2015-06-02T14:23:28-04:00June 2nd, 2015|Means of Egress|1 Comment

WWYD? Cooler Access Control

Securing cooler doors with access control products is likely to become a more common application as facilities become increasingly automated.  Without an access control system it's tough to control what is taken once the door is opened (like the coin-operated newspaper vending machines).  Have any of you seen a system that works well to secure cooler doors and interface with a system like the one pictured here, where supplies are ordered online and then picked up from the cooler?

By |2015-06-09T21:43:53-04:00June 1st, 2015|Electrified Hardware, WWYD?|5 Comments

WW: Emergency Exit Only

Today's Wordless Wednesday photo came from RB Sontag of Allegion. This is a roof door (which really shouldn't be an emergency exit anyway) and I can't imagine how secure a chain wrapped around the lever would be, but if the exit is to be taken out of service they should talk to the fire marshal and change the signage...

Anatomy of a Fire Door

Openings in fire-resistance-rated partitions are protected by fire door assemblies – also called opening protectives, an assembly of products which have been tested and listed for this purpose. These products may come from various manufacturers and can be listed by different test laboratories, but they work together as an important part of a building’s passive fire protection system...

By |2021-06-29T16:34:34-04:00May 18th, 2015|FDAI, Fire Doors|12 Comments

Decoded: Screen Doors and Doors in a Series

Screen doors are sometimes used in commercial or institutional occupancies, where air transfer through the opening is desired. One example of this would be a door leading from a commercial kitchen to the exterior. In some areas of the country where the climate is temperate, this is a common application which consists of two doors in the same opening, one inswinging and one outswinging. It can be very difficult for people with certain disabilities...

By |2021-06-16T13:29:35-04:00May 14th, 2015|Accessibility, Articles|5 Comments

Minnesota Rationale

This document does not technically apply to facilities located outside of Minnesota, but this reasonable insight from authorities with decades of fire safety experience can not be ignored. To me, this rationale was particularly powerful given the fact that Minnesota is the location of the 2005 school shooting at Red Lake High School, where a 16-year-0ld killed 7 people and wounded 5 others. Although the classroom doors were locked...

By |2016-01-13T11:10:08-05:00May 12th, 2015|Means of Egress, School Security|2 Comments

FF: Viral Door Problems

I love when door-related issues go viral, and "regular" people focus on doors for a change. Unfortunately, it usually takes a broken door to make people notice. Just in time for Fixed-it Friday, here's one from the Milwaukee Brewers blog, about when Bob Uecker and his crew got stuck in the radio booth during a game (click the photo to visit their blog)...

By |2015-05-08T12:17:40-04:00May 8th, 2015|Doors Gone Wrong, Fixed-it Friday|5 Comments

ALOA Keynotes – A Call to Arms for All Locksmiths

I can understand politicians would have a hard time voting against anything that’s supposed to help protect children in an active shooter situation. On the other hand, I’m not happy with the rationale that suggests that because school fires are on the decline but active shooters are on the rise, this type of locking system can be used...

By |2015-04-26T17:23:15-04:00April 28th, 2015|School Security|4 Comments

FF: Classroom Latch Preventer

These Fixed-it Friday photos depict one school's method for providing classroom security. The outside lever is kept locked at all times, so closing the door is all that's required to secure the classroom during an emergency. But having a classroom door locked all the time can be inconvenient - someone has to open the door each time a student or staff member wants to enter...

By |2015-04-24T08:28:54-04:00April 24th, 2015|Fire Doors, Fixed-it Friday, School Security|8 Comments

When is a door not a door?

A couple of months ago I wrote a post about murals in health care occupancies and a change to the 2015 edition of NFPA 101 - The Life Safety Code. I just read an article in Australian Ageing Agenda about the practice of disguising doors in memory care units, and how this affects the patients...

By |2016-05-10T13:08:09-04:00April 21st, 2015|Health Care, Means of Egress|2 Comments

FF: VA Hospital

I'm spending time at a VA hospital, where my father is currently in hospice care. Even under these circumstances I can't help looking at the hardware, and I know my father would tell me to go ahead and share it. I haven't taken many photos but there are a couple below. In case I don't get a chance to post tomorrow, consider this an early Fixed-it Friday post...

By |2015-04-16T01:18:35-04:00April 16th, 2015|Fixed-it Friday, Health Care|19 Comments

Door Closer Arm Options

Most door closers used today are surface-mounted closers with a double-lever arm. These closers fall into two categories – application-specific, and universal. A universal closer is best when the field conditions are unknown, or when flexibility is a top priority. Application-specific closers give the specifier and supplier more control over how the door closer is mounted...

By |2016-10-16T22:18:39-04:00April 14th, 2015|Door Closers|7 Comments

Options for Securing Classroom Doors

Here is my second draft script for an upcoming whiteboard animation video.  I really appreciate everyone who made suggestions for yesterday's script - I have made some changes.  Please comment if there is anything I need to add or change for this video about a very important topic.

By |2016-10-16T22:18:35-04:00April 8th, 2015|School Security|7 Comments
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