FIRE SAFETY GLASS – A CLEAR INTRODUCTION
Glass & Glazing Products Feature
The quest for peace of mind and maximum building protection is seeing the specification of premium fire safety glass increase, according to specialist manufacturer CGI International.
CGI International’s Sales Director, Steve Goodburn said: “More and more commercial buildings are opting for open-plan layouts and glass is being used as both a practical and design-led material of choice. The onus on fire safe products has never been greater.”
Wired glass was the earliest fire safety glazing product on the market its properties discovered after a fire left the wired glass windows intact. Until the 1980s this was the only used fire safety glazing, appearing widely in public sector buildings such as schools, hospitals and office blocks.
Steve said: “For a long time, wired safety glass was the only option and so people naturally assumed that it was always the best. Wired safety glass is in fact a very good integrity product but there have been many enhancements in product technology and manufacturing techniques, performance capabilities and design since then. We can now afford much better protection through new generation products and fabricators, contractors, specifiers and end-users have more choice than ever before.”
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. 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 afford time to evacuate people. While an individual’s safety is still of crucial importance, the construction and property industries have also recognised the need to protect the buildings themselves. Extensive rebuild costs, rising insurance premiums and the need for business continuity have made fire safety glass about more than just protecting evacuation routes, but business assets too.
This has seen heightened demand for the most advanced fire glass products – those which offer integrity and full insulation. EI glass is a glazed fire resistant barrier which, in addition to stopping the breakthrough of fire and ignitable gases, limits the surface temperature on the unexposed face, keeping the heat on the right side of the glass for the specified time period and minimising the risks of spontaneous combustion and the damage this can cause to both people and property. EW glass offers full integrity but will also limit the transfer of radiant heat to a specified level.
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.
Steve said: “Glass walls, partitions and walkways are becoming more commonplace and manufacturers have to meet the challenges that modern building design presents. All fire safety glass specialists are striving for increased sheet sizes and it’s these advancements which will provide enhanced practicality and flexibility for fabricators and specifiers. Our own developments mean that full height fire-glazed partitions are now possible, further proof that fire safety glass doesn’t have to compromise function or performance.
“In recent years, we’ve learned that we need to re-educate the supply chain, everyone from glazer to fabricators, architects to contractors, if they are to pick the right product for the job and understand the flexibility and performance of fire safety glazing.”
It’s no secret that integrity and full insulation glasses (EI) can be more expensive but according to Steve this is not hindering their uptake: “We’ve experienced a great uplift in sales of our EI fire safety glass Fireswiss Foam and our EW fire glass Pyroguard during the last 12 months and it’s attributable to a variety of factors. In part it’s due to the emergence of an increasingly risk averse audience. Customers are starting to specify-up. Building regulations may not demand it, but peace of mind certainly does. After all, the better educated we are the better protected we’ll be.”