SPECIFYING UP FOR FIRE SAFETY
Building For Education
Wired fire safety glass conjures up images of school corridors, gymnasiums and classrooms across the UK and for a long time, has been the fire safety glass of choice. Here, Steve Goodburn, Sales Director from leading fire safety glazing manufacturer CGI International, explains the history and properties of wired fire safety glass, looks at the new trend of up-specifying and highlights a new generation of fire safety glazing options.
Wired glass was the earliest fire safety glazing product on the market its properties discovered after a fire left the wired glass windows intact. CGI’s Steve Goodburn said: “For decades, wired glass has been the most common fire-rated glass product specified in schools and colleges across the UK. It’s no wonder: it provides economical and reliable fire protection and for a long time was the only product available that could do the job.
“Wired safety glass is a very good integrity product which remains very popular, but we’re increasingly finding that public sector buyers and the construction trade are making assumptions that this will give them the very highest protection when that’s not the case.”
Fire glass products can be grouped into three main categories. The first is integrity only (E) which prevents flames and hot gasses from spreading for a specified time – typically from between 30 and 60 minutes. The second is integrity and insulating glass (EI) which has the same ability as integrity glass but also restricts the temperature transfer to the unexposed face in the fire. The third option is integrity and radiation control glass (EW) which not only offers integrity but also offers some radiant heat control which significantly reduces the amount of heat transmitting through the glass.
The original motivation for fire safety glass was to allow time to evacuate people from buildings. Wired fire safety glass certainly meets that need however, while an individual’s safety is still of crucial importance, the education sector has also recognised the need to protect assets too. Extensive rebuild costs, rising insurance premiums, restricted budgets and the impact on educational continuity have made fire safety glass about more than just protecting evacuation routes, but more about protecting the building as well.
This shift in thinking has seen heightened demand for the most advanced fire glass products – those which offer integrity with (and) full insulation or partial radiation control. Steve adds: “For a long time schools have thought of fire safety glass procurement as a means to guarantee pupil safety and to ensure a safe evacuation only. However there’s now even more at stake.
He continues: “The advice is that for optimum protection, schools should opt for Integrity and Radiation control (EW) or integrity and insulation glass (EI). Most common materials will ignite spontaneously once temperatures reach 500-600ºC, meaning that even if the fire is contained in an adjoining room, catastrophic damage and further spread of fire can take place on the safe side of the fire if an Integrity only (E) glass is used. For a school, this can mean the loss of IT systems, exam papers, student records, learning materials and course work not to mention the classrooms themselves and other communal areas.
“This ability to contain fire and avoid heat transfer also buys more time for fire crews to respond. With more than half of all school fires being a result of arson outside of school hours, this is particularly important and can make all the difference between repairs and a rebuild.”
It’s no secret that integrity and full insulation glasses (EI) can be more expensive than the more traditional wired fire safety glass, but according to Steve this is not hindering their use and educational institutions are opting to ‘specify-up’ in the name of peace of mind. Steve added: “Despite the financial constraints that schools, colleges and universities have to operate within, we’ve seen a real increase in the supply of EI glazing to the education sector.
According to research from the Association of Teachers & Lecturers (ATL) in 2006, in nearly one in five of UK school fires, pupils' work had been destroyed and in almost half the cases there had been structural damage, with a handful leading to total destruction of the school. These figures paint a very clear picture - schools can’t afford not to invest in better fire safety protection.
“We’ve been working hard to educate the educators and the construction supply chain about the risks, the available options and the differences between different product types. An increasingly risk averse audience has begun to emerge. Building regulations may not demand it, but peace of mind certainly does.”
The glass industry is continuously on a quest to develop the next generation of fire glasses and CGI recently invested £200k in on-site research and development facilities to that end. Its latest success is ten new tested sizes and applications of its Fireswiss Foam fully insulating fire rated glass.
However, Steve is still concerned that these advancements are blighted by the old-generation fire safety glass. He adds: “There’s a misconception among the architect and specifying community that fire glass is a restrictive product that forces them to compromise on design. Perhaps that was true of some of the very early generation products but in reality, product development has made real strides. Larger tested sizes mean that larger areas can be protected and clear, safety glass ensures that natural light isn’t compromised.
“The Building Schools for the Future programme is seeing huge swathes of investment in rebuilding and refurbishment and in turn, more modern design features such as glass walls, partitions and walkways are appearing in our schools. Manufacturers like us now have products to meet those demands without compromising on quality, safety or aesthetics. It seems clear investing in the best fire safety glazing really will protect our schools for the future.”