Instructions / Assembly

5
Going Beyond Codes
Many owners, designers, and contractors feel that the insulation requirements set out in state-adopted codes are not robust
enough to truly save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These owners, designers, and contractors look beyond
code initiatives to USGBC’s LEED
®
rating system
1
, ASHRAE Standard 189.1
2
, or Architecture 2030.
3
Including increased insulation levels in the building envelope can help reach these advanced eciency goals with a negative
marginal cost, generating a positive economic return over the building’s lifecycle.
NON-COMBUSTIBILITY
Non-Combustible and Fire-Resistant
A non-combustible is dened as a material that, in the form in
which it is used and under the conditions anticipated, will not
ignite, burn, support combustion, or release ammable vapors
when subjected to re or heat. Materials that are reported
as passing ASTM E136, Standard Test Method for Behavior
of Materials in a Vertical Tube Furnace at 750°C, shall be
considered non-combustible materials.
1
ASTM E136
1
: Standard Test Method for Behavior of Materials
in a Vertical Tube Furnace at 750°C
While it does not duplicate actual building re exposure
conditions, this test method assists in indicating those materials
that do not act to aid combustion or add appreciable heat to an ambient re.
NFPA 285
2
: Standard Fire Test Method for Evaluation of Fire
Propagation Characteristics of Exterior Non-Load-Bearing
Wall Assemblies Containing Combustible Components
NFPA 285 measures what happens during a re when a non-
combustible building is wrapped in combustible materials.
The Purpose of NFPA 285 Testing:
NFPA 285 is required in the International Building Code (IBC)
in multiple situations. Some examples may include when
combustible air barriers are used or when foam plastic insulation
is used in the exterior walls of construction types I, II, III, or IV.
These construction types, by code denition, have exterior walls constructed of non-
combustible materials. The NFPA 285 test is to determine that combustibles, when
exposed to re on the exterior face of the wall, do not spread ame over the surface or
through the core of the otherwise non-combustible wall assembly.
The NFPA 285 standard test is referenced in many sections of the IBC, including Section
1404.5 for water-resistive barriers, and Section 2603.5.5 for foam plastic insulation. NFPA
285, or a variation of it, has been referenced in each edition of the IBC since its rst edition
in 2000, and since the 1980s in the three model codes that preceded it. The now defunct
ICBO Uniform Building Code rst included the concept in the 1988 edition, requiring testing
in accordance with the UBC Standard 17-6, a predecessor of NFPA 285.
Mineral Wool: Non-Combustible Continuous Insulation
Mineral Wool products are non-combustible per ASTM E136. Mineral wool will resist
ame propagation over the surface of the products.
As a non-combustible material, mineral wool insulation is ideal for assemblies with
combustible claddings and/or water-resistant barriers (WRB). When used with other
combustible products, mineral wool acts as an aid in passing NFPA 285.
Standards and Testing
1
ASTM International. ASTM E136-16a. Standard Test Method for
Behavior of Materials in a Vertical Tube Furnace at 750°C. https://www.
astm.org/Standards/E136.htm.
2
National Fire Protection Association. Standard Fire Test Method for
Evaluation of Fire Propagation Characteristics of Exterior Non-Load-
Bearing Wall Assemblies Containing Combustible Components. http://
www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/all-codes-and-standards/list-of-
codes-and-standards/detail?code=285.
3
Architecture 2030. http://architecture2030.org/.
3. Envelope tradeoff
• Tightly dened
• Allows for tradeoff between various parts of the building envelope
• ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007/2010 provides the basic rules
• Tradeoff is implemented in the COMcheck™ software