Spain, one step behind Europe: requires a decrease degree of security for façade coatings | EUROtoday

Anyone who lives in an condo constructed in the course of the twentieth century can calm down somewhat: the double facades in houses just like the one within the broken constructing in Valencia have been very unusual till just lately in Spain, as have been thermal insulators that, in response to many hypotheses, They unfold the fireplace. If you look in an condo from the Seventies, you in all probability received't discover any thermal insulation, explains THE WORLD a development skilled consulted. Yeah Perhaps there could have been a layer of air between the partitions, a double wall with a void within the center. It wasn't a lot safety in opposition to the chilly, however no less than it was a secure system in case of fireside.

Spain arrived late to the objective of attaining extra energy-efficient buildings. In 2002, when the developer FBex noticed the challenge for the constructing on Maestro Rodrigo Street, the 1991 Technical Building Code was issued in Spain, which was very imprecise when it comes to thermal consolation. The constructing was then introduced as a product forward of its time, able to providing qualities that weren’t required by the norm. It was its attraction then and it was later its condemnation as a result of the dangers of that luxurious weren’t properly calculated on the time.

When the neighbors arrived on the constructing and opened their houses in 2008, there was already a brand new regulation (the 2006 Code) that did speak about thermal insulation however which, in response to the consultants consulted, didn’t sufficiently tackle its risks. In 2016 there was an extension of the Technical Code that went in that course and that supplied, amongst different issues, for the creation of firewalls within the air chambers of those double facades (utilizing substances that broaden and block currents). But the demand in Spain continues behind that of different European international locations. For façade coverings, the aspect that maybe prompted the fireplace in Valencia, our neighbors demand supplies with an A certificates in flammability, whereas in Spain we accept the B certificates, much less optimum.

What do we all know in regards to the facade of the constructing that burned? As defined Manuel Montesdeoca Caldern, director of the Department of Architectural Construction of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the constructing had a ventilated façade with six layers. From the within out, this advanced consisted of a brick enclosure; a layer of thermal insulation in all probability 4 centimeters lengthy that, According to totally different sources, it was polyurethane, rock wool or the 2 supplies mixed at totally different heights.: an air chamber of one other 4 centimeters that prevented condensation and humidity; and a double-layer aluminum composite coating lower than a centimeter extensive. Between these two layers of aluminum, there was a polyethylene filler that gave rigidity to the coating. The aluminum sheet is skinny and could be simply reformed, dented, warped, and so forth. The composite core prevents deformation, explains Montesdeoca Caldern.

From there there are two hypotheses: the primary, probably the most widespread within the first hours, maintains that it was the thermal insulation (the layer hooked up to the wall) that burned. Polyurethane, explains Montesdeoca Caldern, throw flames to the heights and dense smoke like that seen in Valencia.

The doubt lies within the look at first look of stays of rock wool among the many ruins of the constructing. Rock wool is a fabric obtained from volcanic stones, which is an alternative choice to greater high quality polyurethane and that it has excellent fireproof conduct. Esther Puchadesthe engineer who inspected the development of the constructing, has named the 2 insulators in numerous interviews.

Devastating and quick hearth

On the opposite hand, the Rigid Polyurethane Industry Association has launched a observe through which it assures that There isn’t any proof that the polyurethane was a part of the ventilated façade of the constructing. Neither as a filler for the outside protecting, nor as an insulating materials within the air chamber.

The drawback is that the consultants consulted They can not conceive {that a} constructing handled with rock wool suffers a hearth like this, so devastating and quick. According to the identical sources, it’s not logical to combine the 2 insulators in the identical piece of façade. On the opposite hand, it’s attainable that within the broken constructing wool was used on the primary two flooring, these the place its traces could be seen, and polyurethane thereafter.

The different speculation is directed at polyethylene, the fabric that provides rigidity to the aluminum coating. According to this principle, it will be simple to reconstruct the origin of the fireplace: a home accident prompted a hearth (maybe in an awning) that heated a bit of aluminum on the façade. The warmth was transmitted to the polyethylene that changed into liquid hearth. When the inside aluminum plate was disfigured by the warmth and fell, that fireside entered the air chamber that separated the constructing's cladding and its façade. The air chamber made a chimney impact and unfold the fireplace upwards within the type of flames and downwards as drops of fireside. The doubt about this speculation has to do with the power of polyethylene to create flames and rise. Some consultants consulted keep that it has that capability and others think about that it doesn’t.

Is it simple for a home hearth to succeed in these insulators and ignite with such violence? It's not simple however accidents occur. Montesdeoca remembers hearth within the works of the O'Donell Maternity Hospital in Madrid, in 2002. That accident occurred at development websites, in a extra harmful scenario. In a constructing just like the one in Valencia, the inhabitants wouldn’t have entry to the air chamber or the coating layers. No one, from a balcony, can throw a lit cigarette at these 4 centimeters between wall and facade.