How insulated metal panels address codes, performance, and fire safety

{"version":"0.3.0","atoms":[],"cards":[["images-card",{"images":[{"url":"http:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dpcbzfiye\/image\/upload\/v1591803379\/kzcyelez7ppmixhkmtsw.jpg","id":"6302458"}]}]],"markups":[["b"],["i"],["a",["href","http:\/\/kingspanpanels.us","target","_new"]]],"sections":[[1,"h2",[[0,[],0,"As building and energy codes get more stringent, insulated metal panels offer an all-in-one approach to high-performance exterior walls and roofs, says AIA partner Kingspan. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Insulated metal panels (IMPs), exterior wall and roof panels with steel skins and an insulated foam core, offer an alternative to site-built construction assemblies. Known for their thermal properties, the all-in-one components provide an air, water, and vapor barrier, and are an option for meeting ever-more-stringent building and energy codes. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"To help solve the building code compliance puzzle, manufacturers have responded by providing design teams with an envelope solution to meet the challenges of stringent code requirements. Ensuring fire safety and being sensitive to energy costs and impacts, manufacturers introduced new technologies that provide energy performance far beyond typical buildings in the past. It is important to understand that many of these components (insulations, air\/water barriers) may provide this improved performance at the trade-off of introducing what the building codes consider to be \u201ccombustible\u201d materials into the building assembly. "]]],[1,"h3",[[0,[0],1,"Balancing the building envelope puzzle with code compliance "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Acknowledging the challenge of balancing energy performance with fire safety, code officials and fire safety organizations have developed requirements allowing combustible materials to be used in various construction types while also including more stringent fire performance criteria for these materials to help ensure a safe environment. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The building code has addressed the importance of fire safety for combustible components through work with standardized testing organizations such as ASTM, NFPA, FM, and UL certifications, resulting in code sections especially developed to implement these standards. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Small-scale testing like ASTM E84 and full-scale tests like NFPA 286 and UL 1040, along with third-party fire standards like FM 4880, are important in helping to predict the performance of combustible materials in fire situations; however, they do not necessarily address all possible scenarios that may affect fire propagation as they typically assess fire behavior in one direction\u2014either laterally or horizontally. The full-scale fire test NFPA 285 addresses the fire performance of external cladding assemblies, mimicking a fire that is spreading out of a window in a multi-story building, evaluating both lateral and horizontal directions of fire propagation in one test."]]],[1,"h3",[[0,[0],1,"NFPA 285 code-compliant system for peace of mind"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The NFPA 285 test was developed to evaluate vertical and lateral fire propagation for wall assemblies that contain combustible components such as foam plastic insulation, combustible exterior fa\u00e7ade elements, and some air\/water barrier materials. Since its introduction, the NFPA 285 test has proven to be a valuable means of evaluating more complex wall assemblies. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The critical aspect of NFPA 285 is that it is an \u201cassembly\u201d test, meaning that the components in question are not being evaluated in isolation, but rather tested as part of the actual wall assembly design being proposed. This allows not only the material being evaluated to be tested, but also any possible interactions with other materials, cavities, etc., that may affect the overall performance of the assembly. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The NFPA 285 test is comprised of a two-story chamber where one wall is a sample of the wall assembly being tested. The test assembly\u2019s lower story includes an opening (simulating a window), and fire sources are located within the lower-story room and at the window opening itself. The test assembly is instrumented with thermocouples at various locations and subjected to a multi-tiered intensity fire source. The pass\/fail criteria include:"]]],[3,"ol",[[[0,[],0,"Flames not visually observed on the exterior wall 10\u2019 or higher above or 5\u2019 or greater from the center of the window opening. "]],[[0,[],0,"Exterior thermocouples at 10\u2019 vertically and 5\u2019 laterally from the window opening do not exceed 1,000 degrees F."]],[[0,[],0,"Temperature rise does not exceed 1,000 degrees F within any wall cavity air space."]],[[0,[],0,"Temperature rise does not exceed 750 degrees F within any combustible wall components more than 1\/4\u201d thick."]],[[0,[],0,"Temperature rise does not exceed 500 degrees F within the second-story test room, measured 1\u201d from the interior wall assembly surface. "]],[[0,[],0,"Flames are not visually observed within the second-story test room. "]]]],[1,"p",[]],[10,0],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"In support of their products, IMP manufacturers must perform and pass the NFPA 285 in most common wall configurations for their products and several wall assemblies where the IMP may be one of several components. As with all combustible wall components, specifiers should request appropriate documentation to ensure code compliance."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Designers can have peace of mind knowing fire safety is not compromised. Code requirements and stringent test standards were developed specifically to provide design flexibility at the same time. The all-in-one component of an insulating metal panel provides the confidence necessary to help designers create the highest efficiency building envelope. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[1],0,"For functional, aesthetic insulated metal panels that increase the thermal efficiency, build speed, and durability of any construction project, visit "],[0,[2],1,"www.kingspanpanels.us"],[0,[],1," to learn more. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[1],1,"AIA does not sponsor or endorse any enterprise, whether public or private, operated for profit. Further, no AIA officer, director, committee member, or employee, or any of its component organizations in his or her official capacity, is permitted to approve, sponsor, endorse, or do anything that may be deemed or construed to be an approval, sponsorship, or endorsement of any material of construction or any method or manner of handling, using, distributing, or dealing in any material or product."]]]]}