SPECIAL REPORT:
The testing industry is responding to the challenges of foam plastics with new tests. The corner test,
shown above, aims to model actual fire growth in a room-using a three-panel corner and a burning
crib of wood.
by William Rose
Fire-safety regulations are established
to guarantee an acceptable measure of
fire safety in buildings. Sandwich-panel
construction-whether of polyisocyanurate
or expanded-polystyrene (EPS)
cores-can comply with current fire
regulations in the model codes. So a
builder can put up a house with sandwich
panels and be sure that it is fire
safe. Right? Well, not exactly...
In a recent article in Progressive Architecture,
Richard Rush wrote: "Most fireprotection
engineers agree that the code
is the last thing they