Life Cycle Costs: Advantages of an Integrated Door System

The life cycle cost can be defined as the total cost of installing, operating and maintaining doors and hardware throughout their entire useful lifespan. Figuring the life cycle cost for both conventional doors and door systems shows just how important it is to compare these numbers prior to deciding on any one solution for your next project.

Traditional door and hardware typically involves up to 15 manufactures and trades to complete a single opening in a wall, compromising responsibility for the opening. The integrated door systems approach says there should be one manufacturer providing all the materials, performing the installation, and taking full responsibility for the functioning of the entire opening. With a single source, it is much easier to guarantee that all work is in compliance with the specification, satisfies all relevant code requirements - and it ensures that the job is done on time, every time, under a single subcontract with undiluted responsibility.

Background of the Integrated Door System

Total Door started as a concept to create an integrated door system where the lock, hinging and door body were each designed as a single, one piece plastic extrusion, with all of them the same length. With the fundamental simplicity of this new integrated system concept, architects and designers were freed from many restrictions and limitations that standard doors previously posed.

 

Compliance with fire codes and the requirements of security demanded that the Integrated Door System move away from plastics and adapt the full-height hinge and latching channel concept to wood and metal door construction, meeting all the needs, functions and desires of the architect and end user without the historical problems of traditional hardware.

As an example of this, the traditional mortise lock has latch bolts, dead bolts, auxiliary latches, stop buttons and a total of approximately 75 parts with a life expectancy of 800,000 cycles. The Total Door locking/latching concept has a total of 28 parts with a life expectancy of over 5,000,000 cycles.

Another example is the standard panic device, which has either concealed or surface mounted vertical rods, a bulky appearance, noisy operation, approximately 150 parts and lowers the life expectancy to 500,000 cycles. The Total Door panic device has a total of only 13 parts and a limited lifetime warranty.

Right: The design of the full-height hinge (top) and locking channel (bottom) eliminates many problem parts and reduces the number of fasteners.

Problem-Solving by Total Door

Total Door reduces failures and has a positive impact on life cycle costs by:

• Using a systems approach and performing all assembly in the factory. This approach provides single responsibility, which means there’s no finger pointing - especially for issues like code compliance, ADA guidelines, and reliable function.
• Dramatically reducing the number of manufactured parts in an opening. Total Door eliminates vertical rods, coordinators, astragals and flush bolts.
• Use of a full-height, semi-concealed hinge and attachments which are more than three times stronger than conventional heavy-duty ball bearing butt hinges.
• Eliminating 92% of the components and 87% of the screws found in the standard panic exit device, and installing the panic at the factory.
• Avoiding machine screws and using self-drilling, self-tapping sheet metal screws.
• Painting - a significant factor in life cycle costs. Factory finished, custom color, catalyzed polyurethane costs about $10 more than field painting, but it lasts 12 to 15 years as compared to 3 or 4 for field painted doors. That’s a saving of about $105 dollars in 12 years. There is no comparison of finish quality either. Avoided painting costs analysis: $35(Cost of field painting) x 3 (# of additional paintings) = $105

Shipped from the Factory: Total Door's Integrated Door System vs. Regular Doors

 

Here is a side-by-side comparison of a Total Door integrated door system next to a conventional door. This is the way these doors will ship from the factory. The Total Door (left) is completely assembled while the regular door will ship in pieces. All the pieces you see on the right are for only one leaf!

Panics Comparison - Standard Doors & Hardware vs. Total Door System

This chart shows the comparative list prices of a standard grade 1 vertical rod panic device and the price of a “Systems” equivalent panic device. How can both be grade 1 devices yet the standard device costs 4 times as much as the systems panic?

The answer lies in the number of parts required to accomplish the same function: 150 +/- parts for the standard door versus 13 for the integrated door system.

It’s also worth noting that the number of parts handled by the installer is very different – 69 for the standard door versus 0 for the Total Door system.

Products That Accelerate Failure of the Opening

There are several major product issues on standard door and hardware that accelerate failure.

The cushion stop closer arm is a real door, frame and hinge buster. Opening the door until it is stopped by the arm and then pushing hard on it will absolutely cause door and hinge failure. The primary forged steel arm is stronger than other door components. This same arm will not harm the integrated door system equivalent because the hinge is strong enough to cause the primary arm to bend in the strong plane before it can damage the door components.

Surface mounted and/or concealed vertical rods – Accurate tolerances are critical for proper alignment. Lack of correct field-adjusted tolerances leads to compromised operation of the door, accelerating failure.

Closers without pressure relief valves can cause significantly more damage than aluminum closers with pressure relief valves. This is because the door will fail before the closer. The $100 dollar closer will be fine but your $500 door must be replaced.

Coordinators and flush bolts have only 10 to 20 percent of the life of other door components. A systems door does not use coordinators or flush bolts, eliminating them as a point of failure.

Hinge Comparison

Hinge design has a major impact on the life cycle costs of a door. On the right, we have a horizontal cross section of a standard 4-½ x 4-½ heavy duty, ball bearing butt hinge. The frame must be weakened in three locations in order to mortise the hinge leaf, necessitating the welding of hinge reinforcements to the remaining frame. If the door exerts a 100 pound side load on the hinge, what kinds of loads are placed on the screws? Why does this loading cause the reinforcement or the welds to fail?

Above: Cross sections of a Total Door hinge (left) and a standard 4-½ x 4-½ heavy duty, ball bearing butt hinge

The force is transferred to the frame via the hinge pin which multiplies the loads on the screws by a factor of four. This is why reinforcements begin failing before reaching one million cycles. [The 100# door load x 2.25” (center of pin to edge of leaf) divided by .563” (center of screw to the edge of hinge) equals 400 pounds.]

What happens to the door, frame or hinge when someone leaves a wedge or broom handle in the hinge jamb and then tries to close the door? Clearly, this creates a leverage point the door was not designed to support. This action will produce failure of the reinforcements, door, hinge or frame. [Assumes that the broom resistance point is 1” from the hinge pin. 20# closing pressure x 36” door width x 2.25 ” / .563” = 2,877#.]

The same 100# force on the Full-Height Hinge: The Full-Height hinge does not support the weight of the door because the pivot point is within the plane of the door, changing the geometry. It merely allows for rotation along the hinge axis.

The weight is supported by a stainless steel support ribbon (hanger rod). This helps explain the much higher cycle life. In addition, the full-height design eliminates the ability to insert a broom in the example above.

Thread Cross Section

Improving the holding power of the fasteners reduces failure because parts are less likely to loosen.

Displayed is a scaled longitudinal section of a class 2 (#10/24) machine screw (Industry commercial standard). The overlap and clearances are not exaggerated. The optimum drill size for the hole is #25 (0.1495”) for a 75% thread. This hole is so tight that quite often the hand taps brake.

More common is to use a 5/32” drill (0.1560). This drill is only 0.007” larger but it reduces the holding capacity of the screw to approximately 10%. (See arrows)

Instead of having a screw that fails at a 700# load, it may fail at 70#. In other words, as soon as the door begins to get heavy use, the screws may strip. It is almost impossible to keep machine screws from loosening without lock washers. And of course, nobody uses lock washers on doors.

Above: Cross sections of self-drilling, self-tapping screws used by Total Door (left) and the industry commercial standard class 2 (#10/24) machine screws

Total Door Integrated System uses self tapping, self threading screws.

Self tapping screw advantages: The drill point provides the exact minimum diameter hole so that the screw partially cuts and partially roll forms the mating thread. As a result, the screw never loosens. Because the screw is hardened and has a yield strength of more than 160,000 PSI, the threads can be widely spaced so that the shear area in the mating thread can be increased by about 300% (This is desirable because the reinforcing has a yield strength of only 40,000 PSI, requireing 4 times as much material between threads to match the yield strength of the screws.)

Parts Count - Standard Door & Hardware vs. Total Door System

The actual number of parts that make up a door can have a dramatic effect on the reliability and maintenance requirements for that opening. Here we see a comparison of the number of parts for standard door & hardware versus the Total Door system. The Total Door System uses less than 1/4th the number of parts, vastly improving its reliability.

Note: The part counts indicated in the chart (right) for each door include all screws and fasteners for each leaf. This is particularly important when you consider that for the Total Door full-height hinge count of 19 parts, 15 of these are self-tapping screws.

Parts Handled by the Installer: Standard Doors & Hardware vs. Total Door System

As shown previously, the number of parts is dramatically lower with the Total Door integrated door system. This also means the number of parts handled by the installer is significantly lower. Fewer parts handled means less installation time and fewer opportunities for something to go wrong.

Note: all the 0’s under Total Door System means that these items are installed at the factory.

Life Cycle Costs Example - 6070: Total Door System vs. Standard Doors & Hardware

To the right are two sets of cost savings. The first set includes potential savings from the initial installation because (1) the integrated system requires less time to install and (2) the panic hardware is less expensive because of the reduction in parts.

The second set of savings are based on annualizing the avoided costs that result from not replacing the panic every 7.5 years when using an integrated door system.

*This example uses a $40 labor rate with an allowance of 15% for overhead.

Life Cycle Costs Example - 3070: Total Door System vs. Standard Doors & Hardware

The extra cost of a Total Door versus a mortise lock is amortized in a very short 4 months. $13 per year/12 = $1.08 per month $1.08 * 4 = $4.32.

Total Cost of Installation: Sample Installation Labor for a 3070 Interior Door with Means Data

When comparing Total Door Integrated System to "conventional doors", it is important to look at the total cost of installation. Total Door simplifies installation because it is an integrated door system, completely assembled at the factory. The following list of component installation times is taken from R.S. Means - Building Construction Cost Data. Use this list as a guideline for comparing the total cost of your door installations.

Note: The time for Panics/Vertical Rod and Exterior Trim should be reduced by 1 hour if using mortise locks vs. a panic. (1 hour vs. 2 hours)

Total Door labor hours are based on the use of Total Door hardware. Your times may vary based on additional features and door configurations. In addition, you don't need to worry about:

• Hardware Rooms
• Shrinkage
• Supervisor Time
• Coordination of Assembly Activities
• Space Requirements

Comparison Chart of Door Components: Hardware Life Expectancy

To the right is a graphic comparison of the cycle life for door and hardware components. Only grade A doors and Grade 1 hardware products are shown. The source of the information is either SDI or BHMA as well as testing laboratories such as UL or ITS/WHI.

 

All grade A or grade 1 products of a type are not equal. Generally, the numbers published are the lowest common denominator and are those attained under ideal conditions in a laboratory. In real-world field conditions, cycle life results will vary plus 100% or minus 50%.

The conventional door has a life expectancy of 800,000 cycles vs. Total Door, which has a life expectancy over 5,000,000 cycles. With panics, the typical conventional door has a life expectancy of only 500,000 cycles.

Another example of the value of life cycle costs would be to look at a Von Duprin 99 device, which has a list price of approximately $1,250, and the Total Door panic, which list price is $310 and includes a 3 hour fire rating. Even though the Total Door panic is more abuse-resistant, has a 10 times longer life, and is made up of less than 1/10 the number of parts, it only costs one fourth as much when it should probably cost 10 times more.

Note: Steel & wood door cycles refer to welds breaking or screws coming loose.

Conclusion: Making the Decision!

Making the decision to choose the Total Door integrated system versus standard door and hardware multiplies design capabilities for the architect and designer, lowers life cycle costs for the end user and assures complete code compliance for the code official.