Combustible Insulation in Facades

Combustible Facades / Insulation
– Will fire spread?
Peter Gardner
Exova Warringtonfire Aus
Brazil
NSW
Fibreglass panels
beneath windows
Issues
Do facades and insulation contribute to vertical fire
spread or internal fire spread?
Which BCA clauses and performance requirements
apply?
Is the product an internal wall lining; internal ceiling
lining; external wall; finish or lining to an external
wall; sunscreen, blind, awning or other attachment to
an external wall; composite panel, or just insulation?
Which fire tests apply and which fire tests do not
apply?
Issues
What products are suitable and comply?
Can a fire engineering alternative solution be
undertaken?
Is the proposed BCA Verification Method the
answer?
BCA clauses and fire tests
C1.10 – Fire hazard properties of the following
linings, materials and assemblies must comply with
Spec C1.10:
Wall linings and ceiling linings (Group no.)
Attachments to ceilings, internal walls and the internal
linings of external walls (SOF, SD)
Other materials including insulation materials (SOF, SD)
BCA clauses and fire tests
Wall and ceiling linings
AS ISO 9705 room burn test
AS/NZS 3837 cone calorimeter test
Group number
Group 1 – masonry, plaster
Group 2 – FR timber
Group 3 – timber, FR plastics
Group 4 – plastics
BCA clauses and fire tests
Attachments and insulation
AS/NZS 1530.3 fire hazard properties test
External walls (Spec C1.1 – Type A and B)
AS 1530.1 combustibility test
Spandrels, roof covering, etc – non-combustible
BCA clauses and fire tests
Composite member or assembly
Spec C1.10 – Spec A2.4
Prevents ignition and screens / protects the core for 10
minutes (AS 1530.4). Required?
AS/NZS 1530.3 test. Required on each material
separately?
Plus – AS/NZS 3837 test if also a wall / ceiling lining?
Plus – AS 1530.1 test if also an external wall?
BCA clauses and fire tests
Attachments (Spec C1.1, Clause 2.4)
“(a) A combustible material may be used as a finish or
lining to a wall or roof, or in a sign, sunscreen or blind,
awning, or other attachment to a building element which
has the required FRL if —
(i) the material is exempted under C1.10 or complies with the
fire hazard properties prescribed in Specification C1.10; and
(ii) it is not located near or directly above a required exit so
as to make the exit unusable in a fire; and
(iii) it does not otherwise constitute an undue risk of fire
spread via the facade of the building.
(b) The attachment of a facing or finish, or the installation
of ducting or any other service, to a part of a building
required to have an FRL must not impair the required FRL
of that part.”
AS/NZS 1530.3 fire hazard
properties test
AS/NZS 3837 cone calorimeter test
AS ISO 9705 room burn test
AS 1530.1 combustibility test
Facades
Facade detail
Facade issues
Gaps between slab and curtain wall, eg. galvanised
sheet, smoke stopping, fire stopping, nothing
Facade panel extends / fixed – 2 storeys – gaps
open
Fire test relevance?
Facade – modes of fire spread
Aluminium composite panel
The core can be low density polyethylene
4mm thick (can be 3-6mm thick)
Aluminium sheets 0.5mm thick
AS 1530.1 – 1994
Insulation
Thermal, acoustic, impact, fire, etc
Polyurethane, polyethylene, polyisocyanurate,
polystyrene, icynene, phenolic, cellulose, foil faced,
glasswool, rockwool, etc
Exposed?
AS/NZS 1530.3 – 1999
Ignitability (0–20): 20 – ignition time
Spread of flame (0–10): flame propagation time,
indexed
Heat evolved (0–10): heat release, indexed
Smoke developed (0–10): optical density, indexed
Fire test appropriate?
Does the fire test demonstrate the true performance
of the product in a real fire? Relevant in fire
engineering
AS/NZS 1530.3 states – Conduct a full test on both
faces of a sandwich panel where each face is
different
AS/NZS 3837 Am 1 (not BCA) states – Not valid for: all assemblies
materials or assemblies that contain materials that melt or
shrink away from a flame
assemblies with joints and openings
products with a reflective surface
Fire test appropriate?
Testing composite external cladding with a fire
hazard properties test?
Testing composite coolroom sandwich panels with a
cone?
AS/NZS 1530.3 tests results
Polyurethane foam
Polyethylene
AS/NZS 1530.3 tests results
Aluminium composite panel
Ignitability index
0
Spread of flame index 0
Heat evolved index
0
Smoke developed index 0-1
AS ISO 9705 – Group 1? or 3?
(0–20)
(0–10)
(0–10)
(0–10)
Fire Code Reform Centre
FCRC Project 2A, Fire Performance of Wall and
Ceiling Lining Materials, 1998
Best tests for assessing wall and ceiling linings are
large scale tests, ie. room burn test…..only
standardised large-scale test suitable for assessing
wall and ceiling linings
Minimise testing costs – cone calorimeter test
Fire Code Reform Centre
For smoke – no correlation
Fire Code Reform Centre
FCRC Project 3P4, Fire Resistance and NonCombustibility, Evaluation of Non-Combustibility
Requirements, 2000
Aims of non-combustibility – reduce rick of ignition,
keep fire small, protect escape routes from fire, limit
fire spread
“the traditional purpose of non-combustibility was
simply to prevent the involvement of the building
fabric in a fire”
Fire Code Reform Centre
Recommended to remove / change the requirement
For external walls, replace non-combustibility with
materials that do not reach flashover in the AS ISO
9705 room burn test at 300kW
Essentially Group 1?
Fire Code Reform Centre
FCRC Project 2 B-2, Fire Performance of Exterior
Claddings, 2000
Full scale ISO 13785 test for sandwich panels
‘Vertical Channel Test’ developed in Canada for
external cladding
Sprinklers – OK
Small scale tests not suitable for claddings
Unsatisfactory performance of sandwich panels in
real fires is often a result of poor detailing of joints
and inappropriate use of materials
Fire Engineering Alternative Solution
Fire spread via external openings
Fire spread via combustible external facade
Fire spread via concealed spaces within external
wall
Fire spread via gaps between the slab and external
wall
Fire spread to / from adjacent buildings
Fire Engineering Alternative Solution
Fire sources – internal / external
Secondary fires
External fire-fighting effective or possible
Sprinklers = no problem?
Group 1 = no problem?
Core protected? Verified by fire test?
Performance Requirements – CP2, CP4, others?
Fire Engineering Alternative Solution
Small scale test data little use in fire engineering
Large scale tests provide useful data
Large scale tests are expensive but can address
joints, junctions and system configurations
AS/NZS 3837 cone calorimeter test – heat released
AS ISO 9705 room burn test:
Potential for fire spread to other objects
Total rate of heat release
Measurement of certain toxic gases
Measures production of smoke
Proposed Verification Method
Outcome – “Demonstrate that the building’s external
claddings do not contribute to excessive vertical
fire spread using one of the methods described.”
A – Radiant flux of 50kW/m2 for 15 minutes
Achieved by: Limit HRR to 100kW/m2
Limit flame spread to 3.5m (ie. one floor above)
Involves: Small fire tests
Large / medium fire tests
Non-combustible materials
Proposed Verification Method
B – Prevent fire spread 1.5m vertically
Achieved by: C2.6 spandrels
Sprinklers
In all cases, C2.6 spandrels confirms compliance
Issues
Outcome met by methods?
Address modes of fire spread?
Proposed Verification Method
Small tests – meaningless results for materials that
melt or shrink away from heat or for materials that
include reflective faces, eg. composites
BS EN 1364.3:2006 – Fire resistance tests for nonloadbearing elements, Part 3: Curtain walling — Full
configuration (complete assembly)
NFPA 285 – Standard Fire Test Method for
Evaluation of Fire Propagation Characteristics Of
Exterior Non-loadbearing Wall Assemblies
Containing Combustible Components
Options
ISO 13785 test – compares the performance of
external cladding systems, evaluating the inclusion
of combustible components
Part 1: Intermediate-scale test (screening method)
Part 2: Large-scale test
CodeMark Certificate
Alucobond A2 – 70% and 93% non-combustible core,
sprinklers if Type A, Group 1
Alucobond PE and Vitrabond PE – polyethylene core,
Type C, Group 3
Options
Standards Australia
Thank You
Questions?
Peter Gardner
Exova Warringtonfire Aus

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