"Different insulation provides significantly varying fire safety in small houses"
"- It is strange that the issue of fire risks with foam plastic in small houses has not been highlighted earlier. Sweden currently lacks specific requirements in building regulations for how small houses can be insulated with foam plastic, which implies a higher risk in case of fire and that property protection is not prioritized," says Johan Smeds, building technology expert at Villaägarna."
"- To avoid creating unnecessary fire risks when using foam plastic, it is important to be very careful in the planning of the facade. If I were to insulate a house, I would have considered mineral wool, which is much safer from a fire perspective than foam plastic," says Johan Smeds, building technology expert at Villaägarna."
https://www.villaagarna.se/radgivni...r-kraftigt-varierande-brandsakerhet-i-smahus/
"- It is strange that the issue of fire risks with foam plastic in small houses has not been highlighted earlier. Sweden currently lacks specific requirements in building regulations for how small houses can be insulated with foam plastic, which implies a higher risk in case of fire and that property protection is not prioritized," says Johan Smeds, building technology expert at Villaägarna."
"- To avoid creating unnecessary fire risks when using foam plastic, it is important to be very careful in the planning of the facade. If I were to insulate a house, I would have considered mineral wool, which is much safer from a fire perspective than foam plastic," says Johan Smeds, building technology expert at Villaägarna."
https://www.villaagarna.se/radgivni...r-kraftigt-varierande-brandsakerhet-i-smahus/
Investigated a construction system long ago with foam plastic glued between tongue and groove plywood. The idea was to simply stack the house together and then put drywall on the inside and paneling on the outside.
Abandoned the idea of testing it after a conversation with a guy at the building research council. He said...
-It's probably quick to set up smaller houses, but consider using a less flammable insulation material like black powder, for example.
I think about it every time someone wants to build with foam plastic.
Regards, Findus
Abandoned the idea of testing it after a conversation with a guy at the building research council. He said...
-It's probably quick to set up smaller houses, but consider using a less flammable insulation material like black powder, for example.
I think about it every time someone wants to build with foam plastic.
Regards, Findus
There are no property protection requirements for small houses in the building regulations. The requirement for small houses is generally R15, meaning the house should stand for 15 minutes if it catches fire. This is intended to provide sufficient time for evacuation. An exception applies to houses with a roof slope greater than 45 degrees, where the roof structure must have R30, which in practice requires the whole house to have R30 since the roof cannot stand on its own if the building underneath collapses. Flatter roofs are allowed to have R0 in the roof structure itself...
Unfortunately, the requirement of 15 minutes of structural integrity for evacuation assumes that everyone in the house is somewhat healthy and mobile. Today's elderly, fortunately, live in houses that are often also old and thus built with methods that provide quite a bit of margin in the event of a fire. But in the future, when those who are currently building houses become old, they will live in houses that are precisely dimensioned against R15...
The question of whether we, in the rescue service, with regard to our own safety, can perform a life-saving intervention inside a burning small house is highly relevant. Even within communities with a fire station, 15 minutes is quite a typical time when we can begin an intervention. The conclusion is generally that most houses have significantly better structural integrity than R15, where the extreme in one direction is old houses with timber or plank frames that have been renovated with full-cover gypsum on the inside, and on the other hand, houses with light construction, fabric on the outer roof, etc.
Concerning polystyrene specifically, I think the scariest characteristic, besides that it burns on its own, is that polystyrene can spread fire downward very quickly. This is because the polystyrene melts and becomes like burning oil that runs down the structure. However, this is mainly a problem in multi-story buildings where one does not normally expect rapid downward fire spread.
Nothing, however, prevents you as a property owner from building a house with better fire protection. Here, I think that insurance companies should be tougher in demanding better property protection. Within insurance companies that insure large industrial companies, the preventive fire protection affects the premium very much.
A little film to conclude:
https://player.vimeo.com/video/291890938
Watch it and consider how long it takes before anyone even alerts the rescue service in the event of a fire...
Unfortunately, the requirement of 15 minutes of structural integrity for evacuation assumes that everyone in the house is somewhat healthy and mobile. Today's elderly, fortunately, live in houses that are often also old and thus built with methods that provide quite a bit of margin in the event of a fire. But in the future, when those who are currently building houses become old, they will live in houses that are precisely dimensioned against R15...
The question of whether we, in the rescue service, with regard to our own safety, can perform a life-saving intervention inside a burning small house is highly relevant. Even within communities with a fire station, 15 minutes is quite a typical time when we can begin an intervention. The conclusion is generally that most houses have significantly better structural integrity than R15, where the extreme in one direction is old houses with timber or plank frames that have been renovated with full-cover gypsum on the inside, and on the other hand, houses with light construction, fabric on the outer roof, etc.
Concerning polystyrene specifically, I think the scariest characteristic, besides that it burns on its own, is that polystyrene can spread fire downward very quickly. This is because the polystyrene melts and becomes like burning oil that runs down the structure. However, this is mainly a problem in multi-story buildings where one does not normally expect rapid downward fire spread.
Nothing, however, prevents you as a property owner from building a house with better fire protection. Here, I think that insurance companies should be tougher in demanding better property protection. Within insurance companies that insure large industrial companies, the preventive fire protection affects the premium very much.
A little film to conclude:
https://player.vimeo.com/video/291890938
Watch it and consider how long it takes before anyone even alerts the rescue service in the event of a fire...
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