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Fire Spread/Smoke Development
There are a number of methods by which fire, flame, and smoke characteristics are tested and regulated. Insulation materials installed in commercial applications should generally meet the fire hazard requirements of applicable national and local building codes when tested in composite form per one of the following nominally equivalent test methods:
- American Society for Testing of Materials ASTM E 84
- Underwriters' Laboratories, Inc. UL 723,
- CAN/ULC-S102-M88 National Fire Protection Association NFPA 255
U.S. building codes often require compliance with the International Mechanical Code (IMC) which generally requires a Fire Spread/Smoke Development rating of 25/50 per ASTM E84 for insulation installed in commercial building ductwork.
In the U.S., ASTM E 84
(Steiner tunnel) is the primary test standard for determining
fire safety. Yet ASTM E 84 warns:
“Materials that drip, melt, delaminate, draw away from
the fire or require artificial support present unique
problems and require careful interpretation of the test
results. Some of these materials that are assigned a low
flame spread index based on this method may exhibit
an increasing propensity for generating flame-over conditions
during room fire test with increasing area of exposure of the material and increasing intensity of the fire exposure. The result, therefore, may not be indicative
of their performance if evaluated under large-scale
test procedures. Alternative means of testing may be necessary to fully evaluate some of these materials.”
ISO-C1 polyisocyanurate has a compliant fire spead ratings of 25, and an excellent smoke development rating of less than 200 (even lower for some densities). Thus ISO-C1 meets Class 1 fire/smoke criteria established by ASHRAE and the IMC. And importantly, ISO-C1does not melt and will maintain its integrity to help protect equipment during fires, unlike extruded polystyrene (e.g. Styrofoam) which can melt and lose all protective properties.