[Greenbuilding] fireproof light deck

Tim Vireo Keating t.keating at rainforestrelief.org
Thu Apr 7 12:58:42 CDT 2011 

The issue in NYC is not combustability but 
flame-spread. That's the test that yields the 
typical Class A rating, as far as I am aware. Ipe 
was assumed to be Class A because importers said 
it was. I spoke with the main researcher at the 
US Forest Service Forest Products Lab who 
challenged this, given that no one had ever been 
able to produce the actual studies that were 
being quoted by importers/resellers. He told 
others calling him for verification to do their 
owns testing. Finally, someone did and the 
results yielded a Class B rating. Thus, all those 
roofs decked with ipê beyond 20% will likely go 
up just as readily as good oak. And the other 
issue when doing this testing is that, of course, 
ipê, like all woods, will lose mechanical 
properties over time. The more porous the wood 
gets as it ages, the more likely it is to support 
the spreading of a fire. For some reason, I don't 
think this factor has ever been considered 
(unless people have been told that that 
(spurious) Class A rating will only last for 10 
years and then the building owner must replace 
the material with new ipê.

IMHO, the only answer to this of which I know would be RPL.

tim keating

At 10:21 AM -0400 4/4/11, John Straube wrote:
>There seems to be some confusion.
>Non-combustible in the code does not mean "it 
>does not burn".  It means it passes a silly ASTM 
>test, and does not lose more than x % of weight 
>(I think x=10%).
>All wood I have seen fails this, even fire 
>retardent wood, because it off gases enough 
>water and oils that it fails.
>Gypsum looses too much mass, and would fail, except that it is grandfathered.
>Fiberglass does not work. Concrete and steel do.
>
>So Gennaro, do you mean non combustible or do 
>you mean fire rated or something else?
>
>
>On 2011-04-04, at 9:47 AM, Ron Cascio wrote:
>
>>Check this material out;
>>
>><http://www.timbersilwood.com/>http://www.timbersilwood.com/
>>
>>Can't wait to try some of it out sometime soon.
>>
>>
>>Ron
>>
>>
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: <mailto:bergman at cyberg.com>David Bergman
>>To: <mailto:greenbuilding at lists.bioenergylists.org>Green 
>>Building ; <mailto:info at ecobrooklyn.com>Gennaro 
>>Brooks-Church
>>Sent: Monday, April 04, 2011 12:13 AM
>>Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] fireproof light deck
>>
>>Gennaro,
>>
>>Add "eco material" to that description and it 
>>becomes an old quest of mine. Are you talking 
>>about something to sit directly on the "real" 
>>roof? About the best I could come up with when 
>>I last tackled the question was lightweight 
>>concrete roof pavers -- not all that eco though 
>>maybe there are some made with flyash.
>>
>>In terms of wood, NYC used to accept Ipe, but I 
>>heard a rumor they stopped when the fire rating 
>>claims didn't prove out. And, of course, there 
>>was the rainforest sourcing issue.
>>
>>I've looked for fire-rated recycled plastic 
>>lumber from time to time, but have not yet 
>>found any. (Tim V-K: any updates you've heard 
>>of?)
>>
>>There is a group called Brooklyn Bridge Forest 
>>( http://www.brooklynbridgeforest.com/) that is 
>>trying to set up a sustainable source for 
>>greenheart for maintaining the Brooklyn Bridge. 
>>I'm not sure what kind of fire rating 
>>greenheart does or doesn't have. (According to 
>>one site I just googled, it carries a 
>>"high/medium" rating.)
>>
>>David
>>David Bergman  RA   LEED AP
>>DAVID BERGMAN ARCHITECT / FIRE & WATER LIGHTING + FURNITURE
>>architecture . interiors . ecodesign . lighting . furniture
>><mailto:bergman at cyberg.com>bergman at cyberg.com    www.cyberg.com 
>>241 Eldridge Street #3R, New York, NY 10002
>>t 212 475 3106    f 212 677 7291 
>>At 08:01 PM 4/3/2011, Gennaro Brooks-Church wrote:
>>
>>>Hello,
>>>Can anyone suggest a lightweight 
>>>non-combustible deck material for a roof deck?
>>>In New York a brownstone has an average flat 
>>>roof of 700sq.ft. The law only allows 20% of 
>>>it to be covered with combustible decking, 
>>>which isn't much of a deck. Yet the 
>>>non-combustible decking is too heavy for the 
>>>old roofs.
>>>Suggestion?
>>>
>>>Gennaro Brooks-Church
>>>
>>>Cell: 1 347 244 3016 USA
>>><http://www.EcoBrooklyn.com>www.EcoBrooklyn.com
>>>22 2nd St; Brooklyn, NY 11231
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
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>
>Dr John Straube, P.Eng.
>Associate Professor
>University of Waterloo
>Dept of Civil Eng. & School of Architecture
><http://www.buildingscience.com>www.buildingscience.com
>
>
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