The Coronavirus pandemic may eventually cost the trade show and event industry billions, if not trillions of dollars in lost revenue. However, the effect on supporting activities such as continuing education might be even greater. Many industry trade associations require a certain number of continuing education units (CEU) to be earned over a specific period…

Customer-driven design has long been a hallmark of our approach at STI. I was explaining this to members of our team recently when I recounted the story of the “Closet Flange Firestop Gasket” and how it came to be. Back in 2006, we visited a jobsite in New Brunswick, NJ, a short distance from our corporate headquarters. The plumber on…

We are excited to announce the launch of our newly designed website, www.stifirestop.com. After months of hard work from Marketing, Engineering, Product Management, and Software Development departments, we were thrilled to have launched the new website on January 8, 2020. We strived to make the new website easier to navigate, faster, and more user-friendly. As a leader in the Firestop industry, it is important for…

Window wall systems have increased in popularity for highrise construction. They are more economical than conventional curtain wall, while emulating the aesthetic look of such systems. A window wall system sits atop the floor slab. There is not a traditional joint like that which exists with traditional curtain wall. However, there is a gap between…

Intumescent firestop products, which are those materials that when heated will swell and expand in volume, are typically the best overall performers for most applications. Plastic piping firestop systems almost universally require some form of intumescent material since the combustible pipe will soften and eventually be consumed by the fire. However, a solution exists in the form of an intumescent wrap strip, collar…

STI E-Wrap Endothermic Wrap was originally designed for protection of electrical circuits in order to maintain circuit integrity for crucial power and communications systems during the event of a fire. However, the application potential of E-Wrap is much farther reaching and STI continues to blaze a trail, exploring applications where E-Wrap can be used to protect essential service systems and penetrations. For example,…

When comparing a field condition to a UL Tested system there are many factors that must be evaluated to ensure that the proper solution is selected. One of those factors is the minimum and maximum annular space that the UL System allows for. The topic of annular space is not something new, especially to those that have been in the business for…

Entrepreneurship is part of the American Dream.  But even in a stable economy, most start-ups don’t  survive. In these lucid times, established companies too are experimenting to find greater resilience and flexibility.  The co-founder and CEO of Specified Technologies, Inc., Charbel Tagher, shares some of what he has learned over 30 years nurturing a start-up in the construction industry to its thriving maturity today….