When we send our kids to school, have friends over for dinner, or leave a parent in a care facility, we don’t think about the fire safety of these different buildings.
And we shouldn’t have to, either.
The fact is, however, the building materials we choose can fundamentally affect the fire safety in these buildings and therefore the lives of the people using them.
When it comes to fire safety, choosing building materials isn’t complicated.
In fact, answering a simple question can make all the difference: Is it combustible or non-combustible? For the fire safety of building materials, there’s no more important distinction.
Combustible burns, non-combustible doesn’t
Combustible materials will burn in a fire – even with the addition of harmful chemical flame retardants. And if they do catch fire, combustible materials will contribute to the fire’s spread and intensity.
Non-combustible stone wool materials will not burn, period.
And if they are exposed to fire, they also won’t emit significant amounts of toxic smoke – the leading cause of fatalities in building fires.
One choice, affecting the lives of many people
We make choices every day in our lives based on risks to our own safety, like wearing a seatbelt every time we get in a car or crossing a street only at the crosswalk.
But choosing between combustible or non-combustible building materials for a building is different – it’s a choice on behalf of many people today and in the future.
Building for today with an eye on tomorrow
Because buildings only get built (or deeply renovated) once, it is a critically important choice made on behalf of everyone using that space – potentially hundreds even thousands of people – for as long as that building is standing.
If it were your choice to make, which type of materials would you choose, combustible or non-combustible?
