How to enhance fire safety of façades at high-rise buildings
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High-rise buildings and
high-risk buildings
Special buildings need a
special grade of fire safety
In buildings higher than 11 m, fire-fighting control and residents’ escape is only possible to a limited extent and evacuation measures are more important than ever within acceptable time frames.
This also applies to buildings with a large number of visitors or residents and where mobility may be an issue, such as hospitals, retirement homes, schools and universities (high-risk buildings).
With the addition of toxic smoke from a fire, the threat is even more deadly. In the event of a fire, the build-up of smoke can reduce visibility, cause confusion and eventually overcome occupants long before the fire itself becomes life-threatening.
Two important trends will determine buildings’ fire safety standards and architecture of the future:
— An ageing society means we will have more residents in our buildings whose mobility may be restricted, leading to compromised evacuation times
— Diminishing land resources is forcing us to use available space more intensively, with higher buildings and greater population density per floor
Both of these issues demand the question: How we can improve difficult fire-fighting areas and reduce the risk of fire and smoke spreading?
Let’s close the gap for full façade design in Euroclass A2
In order to develop sustainable, future-oriented concepts in fire safety, the façade membrane is an essential element when incorporated into a wider fire engineering strategy. It can be a considerable risk factor for fire propagation in the external building envelope and rear-ventilation walls, with potential flashover between floors and possible entry into the building interior.
In this context, we should understand the current UK building regulations as specified in “Approved Document B Regulation 7(2) and requirement in Part B4: External fire spread”. This is applicable to all buildings over 18 m, it states “all materials which become part of an external wall or specified attachment, achieve class A2-s1,d0 or class A1, other than those exempted by regulation 7(3)”.
In order to offer the highest possible fire safety protection, the façade system should meet Euroclass A2. For fire protection of the outer wall.
Maximum fire safety for your facade projects
Stamisol Safe One: The first façade breather membrane behind cladding in Euroclass A2-s1,d0
The future is now
What was previously only possible for the outer skin and the thermal insulation is now also possible for façade membranes due to the latest technology developed by Serge Ferrari:
Stamisol Safe One, made of glass fibre fabric with elastomer coating, is a vertical façade membrane behind cladding rated Euroclass A2-s1,d0.
Fully integrated external fire protection
In a case of fire, a well-designed and correctly installed A2-s1,d0 façade breather membrane can:
— Assist in preventing flashover, reducing the risk of the fire developing further
— Assist in protecting residents of the building from dangerous toxic smoke
— Assist in reducing the risk of structural damage to the building
Now with the availability of an Class A2 façade breather membrane as well as outer skins and thermal insulation, architects, façade designers and installers can ensure maximum external fire protection in an integrated rear-ventilation design, completely in Class A2.
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