Firestop for Exterior Facades: Who is up for a Challenge?
The challenge still stands.
Our last post set the groundwork for a challenge for you.
Learn whatever you can about the exterior facades on buildings. This task, lead me to a GANA conference in Vegas.
One speaker made it obvious that the fenestration industry knew as little about firestop as I knew about their industry. He argued that, because of the frog effect, there was no reason to even bother firestopping this space.
This was a pivotal moment in my firestop career. At this point, I had been working in firestop for all of maybe four months. What did I know? For those of you who know me, timid doesn’t sit well with me.
I began- Imagine a 30-story building, and as you said, the fire starts on the 5th floor. It will endanger everyone on the upper floors and begin to spread down.
Now, imagine there is something in this space. While this solution is not perfect, it is certainly better than the nothing this guy was proposing.
Next, figure out how to get this contraption to stop fire. All it will take is something similar to the intumescent coating used on steel that we talked about in this blog
http://www.adhesives.org/resources/knowledge-center/aggregate-single/fireproofing-firestopping-and-fireblocking-(part-1-of-4). This is a combination of an acid, which is typically phosphorous based and a carbon source.
One last thing to consider; if you can find a way to make this installation watertight, you may capture an even greater market share. If you come up with something, please let me know.
The firestop industry is constantly evolving, and staying ahead of the curve is crucial. Sharing ideas and solutions can lead to better safety standards and more effective firestop systems. By collaborating and discussing these challenges, we can all contribute to safer building practices and protect lives and property from fire hazards.
ASTM E2307: https://www.astm.org/Standards/E2307.htm
