UNIHOUSE SA Is A Partner Of Fire spread Experiment Carried-out by Instytut Techniki Budowlanej [Institute for Building Technology; ITB]
The research experiment “Fire safe wooden house. Fire behaviour of wooden multi-storey house in actual conditions.” was carried out on 25th - 26th August 2020. The experiment was initiated by ITB and led by Paweł Sulik, PhD and the State Fire Service (PSP) with participation of UNIHOUSE represented by Marta Nazarczuk and of Saint-Gobain Group. The main objective of the experiment was the assumed future amendment to the fire protection and construction regulations concerning multi-storey buildings made of wood.
For the purpose of this experiment, UNIHOUSE erected a 110 m2 two-storey-house composed of 8 premises and four dwelling modules. Three modules were arranged at the ground floor, and one - on the first floor. The building was provided with all necessary pipes, cables, ventilation ducts and power outlets typical for the intended use of the facility. The arrangement of layers in partitions was also made in accordance with the legal requirements effective in Poland. Even some typical damage, which are likely to occur in flats such as holes in wall linings were made.
The building was erected by UNIHOUSE on the drill site of the Regional Training Centre of the State Fire Service in Pionki.
The Ministry of Environment emphasized the development of wooden building technology is one of the government priorities. It was also stated that according to the directions taken by the Housing Council in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, actions aiming at increase of using wood in construction of dwelling houses shall be taken, and wood construction sector shall help to reach the objectives of the National Housing Program.
The fire test of two-storey house with frame made of wood was carried out in full scale according to the fire scenarios agreed with the State Fire Service Highquarters. Several variants of fire spread (three scenarios of fire start inside and one - outside) were considered.
“Today’s experiment clearly confirms the multi-storey houses with frames made of wood are fire-safe. During the experiment, the maximum temperature developed in the room, which was in fire amounted to 1,160 °C, while at the same time the temperature in the room directly above was only 23 °C, which is a standard room temperature.” says Paweł Sulik from ITB, who was one of the main moderators of the event occurred in the Regional Training Centre of the State Fire Service in Pionki (Mazowieckie Province) on 26 August 2020.
The experiment was recorded, and samples to further tests were also taken. The tests shall provide information, which enables preparing amendments to the current construction regulations concerning requirements for flammability and reaction to fire class of construction materials and fire propagation rate of wooden building components. The project finally confirmed fire retardant ability of the systems used.
