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.

Boston Strong

Last month I wrote about my experience on the day of this year's Boston Marathon.  The slogan "Boston Strong" has emerged since then as the ultimate description of this city, which will not let senseless violence beat us down.  This weekend my friend and I took our kids downtown, and our first stop was the makeshift memorial that has sprung up next to Trinity Church and across the street from the Boston Public Library.  I was surprised at the very long line of people inching through the display of running shoes, flowers, notes, candles, hats, stuffed animals, and other mementos that have been left at the site, and also the multiple news vehicles parked along the street.  I'm still wondering what story they're waiting to capture...survivors visiting the memorial?  Famous people?  I guess I'll have to watch the news and see.

By |2013-06-02T19:27:52-04:00May 6th, 2013|Beautiful Doors, Doors Gone Wrong, Road Trips|10 Comments
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Shelter from the Storm

Thankfully, we don't experience many tornadoes here in the Northeast - I actually only remember one tornado scare in my lifetime - on June 1st, 2011.  The weatherman was telling the residents of the towns in the tornado's path when to go into the basement and when the danger had passed.  I was grateful that we had a basement to go to, that my family was all here together, and that ultimately the tornado didn't make it as far as our town.  But what if we didn't have a relatively safe place to go - especially in an area where tornadoes are more common?  When I think about our elementary school, I have no idea where the safest location would be...I wonder if the school staff knows?

By |2015-04-01T21:41:20-04:00April 30th, 2013|Windstorm|2 Comments
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Community of Christ Temple – Independence, Missouri

Last week I had a whirlwind trip to Kansas City, Missouri for Code Jeopardy at DHI's MoKan Chapter meeting, and another code class which was held at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas.  The venue was amazing and the local SSC did a fabulous job of coordinating everything.  Thank you to everyone who attended!

By |2015-11-04T09:34:53-05:00April 29th, 2013|Beautiful Doors|12 Comments
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Boston Public Library

Many of you know that I live just outside of Boston and I consider the city my home (and I really appreciate those of you who emailed me to make sure I was ok).  I love this city, the architecture, the history, the vibe given off by the people.  For me, downtown Boston isn't an area to be avoided because of traffic, crime, or parking difficulties.  It's a place I frequent - with my family and friends, for work, or on my own.  I have never worried about my safety.

By |2013-05-01T19:20:04-04:00April 16th, 2013|Beautiful Doors|9 Comments
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Public House

As always when I travel, I've been on the lookout for interesting doors during my trip to Las Vegas.  I saw these last night at dinner.  They're beautiful (and huge!) carved wood panels, hung on center pivots which are offset from the edge.  When the doors are closed (see below), there is a gap at the hinge edge.

By |2013-05-01T19:22:04-04:00April 9th, 2013|Beautiful Doors, Road Trips|6 Comments
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On the Road Again

On Monday I'm headed to ISC-West in Las Vegas for a few days...will I see any of you there?  And in a few weeks I'm making my first-ever trip to Missouri AND Kansas!  If you're in the area, I'll be playing Code Jeopardy with the MO KAN Chapter of DHI on April 25th in Kansas City, and debuting my new game-show presentation - Decoded: 1 vs. 100, on April 26th in Overland Park, Kansas.

By |2013-05-01T19:21:31-04:00April 4th, 2013|General Info|7 Comments
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WWYD? High Winds

Many of us have experienced a project where the doors were subjected to unexpected wind loads, causing problems with the hardware and the operation of the door.  I'm not talking about the occasional wind that comes with a hurricane, tornado, or tropical storm - I mean the everyday wind gusts due to the building location or other factors.

By |2013-05-01T19:21:01-04:00April 3rd, 2013|Door Closers, WWYD?|16 Comments
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Operational Force for Hardware

The 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design, effective in March of 2012, included an unexpected change regarding the maximum allowable force to operate door hardware.  This modification to the standards was made as an "editorial change," which is typically used to address errors or make clarifications that do not affect the scope or application of the code requirements.  Editorial changes do not go through the normal code development process including committee hearings and opportunities for public comment.

By |2019-02-10T10:12:32-05:00March 27th, 2013|Accessibility, Panic Hardware|7 Comments
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WW: 5 Motions to Release the Latch

As most of you know, a required egress door must typically operate with only one motion to release the latch.  The common exception is dwelling unit entry doors in hotels and apartment buildings, which can have one additional locking device if the occupant load of the unit is 10 or less.  Take a look at this door, sent to me by Jeff Strangio of Maffey's Security Group.  Do you think you could figure out how to open it in smoky conditions?

By |2013-04-03T18:32:28-04:00March 20th, 2013|Doors Gone Wrong, Panic Hardware, Wordless Wednesday|3 Comments
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The Station Movie

Last month I wrote about the first episode of The Station Movie, a video series posted online in segments about the Station Nightclub fire that occurred 10 years ago and took the lives of 100 people and injured more than 200 others.  The pain of the survivors is a reminder of why we need to continue to be vigilant about code requirements, including those pertaining to egress and fire protection.  Here are the next 3 episodes:

By |2013-03-15T12:07:49-04:00March 15th, 2013|Historical, Means of Egress|3 Comments
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Solution for Oversized Undercuts

Last year as one of my projects neared completion, the architect called me to say that the bottom latches of the fire exit hardware were not long enough to reach the floor-mounted strikes.  This is a pretty common problem because that clearance needs to be very tight for the latch/strike templating - sometimes as little as 1/4" between the bottom of the door and the surface where the strike is mounted.

By |2016-04-12T17:59:24-04:00March 14th, 2013|Fire Doors|3 Comments
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Effects of Earthquake Damage on Fire Safety

While this test report was not heavy on door-related data, I thought some of you would enjoy reading about this groundbreaking study which looked at how a test building was affected by several simulated earthquakes, and then how the damaged building's fire safety systems performed in a series of fire tests.  I found the video below fascinating:

By |2013-05-01T19:48:57-04:00March 12th, 2013|Fire Doors, Health Care, Videos|2 Comments
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Everywhere I Go – Church Edition

My husband has grown accustomed to me yelling, "Stop the car!" when I see a door of interest.  We actually had to circle the block and come back to this one in Nashville, Tennessee.  Judging from the entrance, I thought there might be some nice doors...I couldn't process what I was seeing in time to get him to pull over.  This is not code-compliant, people!  The elevator door was purty though.

By |2024-06-06T12:46:50-04:00March 11th, 2013|Beautiful Doors, Doors Gone Wrong, Historical, Means of Egress|5 Comments
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School Security Seminars with Paul Timm

Last month I mentioned a PBS special on school security called The Path to Violence.  This show is currently available on PBS.org for online viewing (embedded below).  Paul Timm is a board certified Physical Security Professional (PSP), the president of RETA Security, Inc., and one of the nation's leading experts in school and campus safety, and appears in this PBS special as well as one of the news stories I posted previously.

By |2014-10-08T08:59:09-04:00March 5th, 2013|School Security|0 Comments
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Kolkata Market Fire

This post should have been on Wordless Wednesday, because I'm not sure what to say that I haven't already said.  For the 8th time in 3 years, a major fire in Kolkata, India, has resulted in multiple fatalities.  At least 19 people were killed (one news report says 28) with 50 people injured, when an "illegal" market burned.  This market has been in existence for over 25 years, and the building is 5 stories tall, so I don't know how the government can claim ignorance of the problems.

By |2013-03-06T11:27:23-05:00February 28th, 2013|Means of Egress|1 Comment
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IDH-IHH is 4 years old!

I can hardly believe that it has been 4 years since I wrote the very first post on this site.  What's most amazing to me is that even though I have posted at least 3 times per week, for a total of 759 published posts to date, I still have a long list of topics to write about.  We've always known that hardware is complicated, but who knew I could write about it 759 times and still have something to say?

By |2016-01-27T13:18:38-05:00February 25th, 2013|General Info|11 Comments
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Are you a CDT yet?

I have quite a few letters after my name.  They won't all fit on my business card, and my email signature looks silly if I include all of them.  There are some that I can use just for joining an organization and paying my annual membership fee, which seems too easy.  But I proudly display the designations for the certifications I've achieved, because they all represent many years of experience, hours of studying, and rigorous tests.  When someone sees my business card or email signature for the first time, they often key in on the designations they're familiar with.  Those certifications immediately communicate that I have some level of knowledge about the topic - that I made the investment to achieve the certification.  Obviously the letters don't say everything about who I am, but they help with the first impression and then it's up to me.

By |2013-03-11T19:06:23-04:00February 21st, 2013|General Info|4 Comments
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Remembering the Station Nightclub Fire

I can't believe it has been 10 years since the morning I woke up, turned on the TV, and saw the aftermath of the deadly fire that killed 100 people and injured 200 others at the Station Nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island.  The recent news story below shocks me but it also underscores the fact that although we react when tragedy strikes, we often let our guard down as time goes on.  We have to remain vigilant or history will repeat itself again and again.

By |2014-03-28T16:54:41-04:00February 19th, 2013|Historical, Means of Egress|3 Comments
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School Security Follow-Up

In the months since the tragedy at Sandy Hook School in Newtown, Connecticut, there have been renewed efforts on the part of many schools to improve their security and better protect students, staff, and visitors.  While I'm very glad to see the focus on these improvements, I'm also very concerned about some well-meaning but misguided efforts that I've come across.  This post is not meant as an attack on any particular product or idea, but a reminder that as we secure these facilities, we must not forget about the other codes affecting the same doors that are being addressed.

By |2016-11-23T20:17:50-05:00February 11th, 2013|Fire Doors, Locks & Keys, Means of Egress|14 Comments
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The Tampa Bay Hotel (Interior) – Tampa, Florida

I'm back in the snowy north, hunkered down while the snow piles up.  This is my last post from my trip to Tampa.  For next week I'm working on another post about glass (yes, there's more!), as well as a post about school security - particularly the "creative" and often non-code-compliant methods I've seen a lot of lately.  If you've run into any interesting security modifications for schools, send them along!  Have a great weekend all!

By |2015-12-30T09:44:39-05:00February 8th, 2013|Beautiful Doors, Road Trips|7 Comments
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The Tampa Theatre – Tampa, Florida

This is a travel week for me - I'm in Tampa, Florida for the winter meeting of the Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association (BHMA - check out their new website!).  I have more posts in the works on school security and wired glass, but while I'm on the road, you know that I like to share the cool doors that I see with all of you.  I'll get back to the code-related posts next week.

By |2014-11-25T23:27:35-05:00February 5th, 2013|Beautiful Doors, Road Trips|6 Comments
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