Earthing
An effective earthing system is an essential requirement for both traditional and modern buildings and structures, in the absence of an earthing system the very fabric of the structure, the equipment contained within and most importantly its occupants remain potentially at risk from the effects of a lightning strike.
Earthing systems generally fall into one of the following 4 categories:
· Power generation, transmission and distribution
· Lightning protection
· Control of undesirable static electricity
· Telecommunications
As with lightning protection the designer’s first choice when designing an earthing system is what type of conductor to use, the choice of conductor is extremely important whether its a simple below ground electrode or a complex computer room signal reference grid.