Traditionally, fire protection has been identified with a compromise on aesthetics. Architects and designers were constrained to using only opaque designs when it came to areas that required fire protection. Good design practices can ensure optimum safety to not only human lives, but also physical assets and most importantly valuable data.
The use of fire protective or fire resistant glass for passive fire protection increases every year as architects, designers and building owners recognize the benefits of natural lighting and creative use of space.
Wired Glass is not the ideal option for Fire Safety.
Wired glass is just annealed glass (not toughened to any standards of impact safety) with a wire-mesh sandwiched inside which is supposed to hold the glass when the glass melts during a fire. What actually happens is that at the slightest impact, the wired glass breaks, posing a more riskier fire hazard that can cause serious injuries.
The recent trends see buildings avoiding the usage of large wired glass vision panels where impact safety glazing is required. When the Indian Fire Codes were being drafted in the past, there was no alternative to wired glass. So when highly populated areas called for a fire rating, wired glass was given an exemption because it was felt that the risk posed by fire was greater than the risks posed by breakage.
Think Systems. The new fire safety solution.
Fire resistant glass can achieve its designed performance only when it is part of a complete fire-proof glazed system - such as glazing seal, beads, fixing materials and frame materials (Mild-steel / Staineless Steel / Timber) must all be compatible and work together to achieve the required performance.
Saint-Gobain has launched their international range of SGG Fireprotect systems that are not just glass but whole systems that can withstand fire in terms of functional or time requirements. The whole system is tested for fire endurance. We consider it critically important that the specification, selection, design and installation of fire-resistant systems are carried out with close attention to detail.
There are three major goals of any fire protection activity - Life Safety, Property Protection and Continuity of Operations.
The use of Glass for fire resistance has been prominent in new age building designs. A good fire resistant glass should, in the event of fire:
 Stop the inflow of oxygen, de-fuelling the fire
Stop the spread of flame, smoke and hot toxic gases
Reduce radiant & conducted heat transmission
Protect life and guard against property loss.
If you would like to know more or require a demo of the Fire Protection System, email us today.
LINKS
Review of Fire Codes and Byelaws by G.B.Menon Fire Adviser, Govt. of India {Retd.} Cochin (Ex-Chairman CED-22 Fire Fighting Sectional Committee, BIS) and J.N.Vakil, Asst.General Manager{Retd},TAC/GIC, Ahmedabad (Ex-Chairman CED-36 Fire Safety Sectional Committee
BIS.) |
