Office fires cause 44 civilian injuries and 4 civilian deaths each year on average. You shouldn’t want these statistics to affect any of your building’s workers. This can hurt your business’s public image.
Luckily, you can prevent workplace deaths and injuries by equipping your building with enough exits. And these don’t have to be doors. An egress casement window can also be a reliable exit.
Read on to learn more about this type of window.
What Is an Egress Window?
An egress window is a window that serves as an emergency exit. If an emergency occurs, a room’s occupant can open an egress window and escape to the outside. Construction workers typically install these windows in commercial building basements or high floors.
Building codes in Washington D.C. require buildings to have egress windows. Also, a window has to be of a certain size to be considered an egress window. The exact sizes required may vary between jurisdictions.
When it’s not being used as an exit, an egress window can serve as a regular window. It lets natural air and sunlight into any room it’s installed in.
What Is an Egress Casement Window?
Egress window codes only allow for certain types of windows to be egress windows. A casement window is an example of this.
Casement windows are windows that can swing open like doors. You can get them as single panes or pairs of panes. Pairs of casement windows will usually open like double doors.
Pros of Egress Casement Windows
An egress casement window can be a great choice for your Washington D.C. building. Here are some ways it helps create safe buildings without many hassles.
Smaller Installation Space
A casement window doesn’t need to take up as much of a wall as some other windows. A single-paned 24-inch high by 20-inch wide window will be enough to meet Washington D.C. building code requirements. Other window options may take up more of the wall.
For example, glider windows need another pane to function correctly. One pane slides behind or in front of another still or moveable pane to open. Each of these panes has to meet the 24-inch high by 20-inch wide size requirements.
So a new glider window for your office will need to take up 40 or more inches of your wall. Not all rooms in an office building have that amount of space available. You can use single-pane casement windows for smaller spaces.
Comes in Different Sizes
Another building code to point out is the 44-inch rule. The bottom sill of an egress window needs to be 44 inches or lower above the floor. If a certain room in your office has a high ceiling, a low window can look awkward.
Luckily, you’ve got a wide variety of egress casement window sizes to choose from. If you need a taller window to fill up a tall wall, you’ll likely be able to find it somewhere. As long as it’s wide and tall enough to meet window codes, it will count as an egress window.
Keep in mind, though, that not every window in a room has to be an egress window. You can install one window closer to the floor and another window above the first one. The bottom window can serve as the egress window.
No Issues With Rail Jams
The building code doesn’t have any restrictions on window rails. However, having a window with a rail can cause a problem in an emergency.
A rail is what helps you open window options like glide and double-hung windows. A person needs to push a window pane along this rail to open the window. Unfortunately, this rail could jam and leave a person trapped inside.
This won’t be an issue with a casement window. A person only needs to bend the hinges to open this type of window.
No Net Clear Opening Issues
Egress casement windows need to have a 5.7-inch net clear opening if they’re above the ground floor. If they’re below the ground floor, they can have a 5-inch net clear opening. Casement windows that are 20 inches by 24 inches will meet this requirement.
This may not be the case with, say, a double-hung window. The full window can be 20 inches by 24 inches. However, the individual panes in the window may not be enough to meet the 5.7-inch requirement.
Cons of Egress Casement Windows
As great as egress windows are, they’re not perfect. There are still some potential issues that can make egress casement windows less than optimal for your building.
Window Well Width
Casement windows may run into an issue when it comes to window wells. A window well is an open space that runs from the ground floor to the bottom of a basement egress window. According to the Washington D.C. building code, a window well has to be wide enough to allow an egress window to fully open.
If your egress casement window is 20 inches wide, your window well needs to be twenty inches wide. A 20-inch wide window well will likely be more expensive than a smaller one necessary for a glide or double-hung window.
Ladder or Step Obstruction
Is your window well 44 inches or taller? If so, Washington D.C. building codes require window wells to have steps or ladders. The egress window opening cannot obstruct a person’s path to them.
It is difficult to meet the building code requirement with a casement window. You may need to make your window well even wider to fit the steps or ladders. In addition, you can’t put the steps or ladders on the side that the panel hits.
Get Egress Casement Windows From Us
An egress casement window fulfills the requirements of an egress window in several ways. You just need to be careful when it comes to window wells. As long as you do this, egress casement windows can go in every room in your office building.
If you’re in the Washington D.C. metro area, get an egress window from us at Supreme Window. Request a window price quote from us by filling out this form.
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