October 25, 2017
Following the disastrous Grenfell Tower fire in London, United Kingdom authorities conducted fireproofing tests on seven combinations of cladding and insulation, revealing that over 200 high-rise residential buildings were at risk in the UK. Four of the seven types of building configurations failed. They were:
- Aluminum composite material (ACM) panels with an unmodified polyethylene core and a rigid
polyisocyanurate (polyiso) foam - ACM panels, unmodified polyethylene core, and stone wool insulation
- ACM panels, fire-retardant polyethylene core, and polyiso foam insulation
- ACM panels, fire-retardant polyethylene filler, and phenolic foam insulation
The three that passed were:
- ACM panels, fire-retardant polyethylene core, and stone wool insulation
- ACM panels, limited combustibility filler, and polyiso foam insulation
- ACM panels, limited combustibility filler, and stone wool insulation
A final report on recommendations on high-rise residential buildings is expected to be released in the spring.