Resource: H.I.T. – the shortcut to smarter fire design

When it comes to fire protection for steel – the choice is simple: optimise or overpay.

Excessive intumescent coatings can drive up project costs and material use – and doesn’t necessarily improve fire safety outcomes. That’s why we’ve created the HERA Intumescent Optimisation Tool (H.I.T.) – to help simplify this process for engineers, architects, steel fabricators, and specifiers so they can fireproof cost-effectively, efficiently and more sustainably.

Smarter fire protection, without the guesswork

H.I.T. integrates key data, such as standard steel section properties, intumescent coating requirements, section shape, section factor, fire exposure conditions, fire resistance rating (FRR), and design temperature – directly from its comprehensive library.

With a few quick inputs, you’ll get clear, actionable results that help you make better, more cost-effective decisions. This is achieved by adopting a streamlined ‘maxi-calculator’ approach, that identifies alternative steel sections with equal or higher capacity, enabling users to quickly assess multiple fire protection options.

Why use H.I.T.?

• Save on coatings, without compromising performance: H.I.T. compares multiple steel sections, helping you find optimised and appropriate alternatives without compromising structural performance.
• Faster, more reliable answers: Minimal data entry provides maximum insight with our ‘maxi calculator’ approach which uses pre-loaded key steel and coating data, making the tool both fast and intuitive.
• Build  more sustainably: Reducing intumescent coatings means lowering material use and your project’s environmental footprint.
• Design with better certainty: Engineers can quickly evaluate different steel section options against not only structural performance, but also sustainability and fire safety goals – to support better project outcomes in the most cost-effective way.

Built by industry, for industry

H.I.T. was developed with the support of Grayson Engineering, whose insights helped shape the tool’s functionality, alongside valuable contributions from the Steel Research Panel and HERA members. Thanks to their contributions, H.I.T. is tested, trusted, and ready to help support and maintain a high standard of quality.

H.I.T: intumescent optimisation software

This software calculates and optimises intumescent costs from the fire protection perspective, using a ‘maxi-calculator’ approach so that minimal data is required for input.