Full-scale Mass Timber Shaft Demonstration Fire. Image Courtesy of reThink Wood

With the aim of raising awareness and expanding knowledge about the advantages of wood in the built environment, reThink Wood has created an online library that collects a series of articles, reports, studies and videos that can be freely accessed right now.

Here we have 5 outstanding resources related to fire safety, which can help you solve this issue on your next project.

Fire Safety and Protection: Why Wood Construction Comes Out on Top (Video)

“Hear from industry experts about mass timber construction’s proven safety and performance record for fire protection. Mass timber offers a distinct advantage because it chars on the outside while retaining strength. With innovative technologies and wood products such as cross-laminated timber (CLT), glued laminated timber (glulam) and nail laminated timber (NLT), wood meets modern building codes and outperforms other building materials.” [Watch The Full Video]

Fire Safety and Protection: Why Wood Construction Comes Out on Top. Image Courtesy of reThink Wood

Summary Of The Fire Protection Foundation Report – Fire Safety Challenges Of Tall Wood Buildings

“With new engineered timber products such as cross-laminated timber becoming more prevalent, this study evaluated the current knowledge of tall timber construction to identify gaps in knowledge, and where if fulfilled, will provide a better understanding of the potential fire safety performance of tall timber buildings.

The study identified a number of knowledge gaps, of which most were related directly to the new technology of engineered timber products that have resulted from the use of CLT. These included system-level fire testing, use of composite assemblies, CLT char fall-off and construction fire safety. The study concluded that the priority for future research should target three areas of research, being the contribution of exposed timber to room fires; connections between timber components and timber composite assemblies; and penetrations for building services.” [Read More]

Charring of an exposed timber member (Buchanan 2001). Image Courtesy of reThink Wood

Calculating The Fire Resistance Of Exposed Wood Members

“The superior fire performance of timbers can be attributed to the charring effect of wood. As wood members are exposed to fire and the wood begins to burn, a char layer is formed. The char layer acts as an insulator and protects the core of the wood section. Thus, wood members can be designed so that a sufficient cross section of wood remains to sustain the design loads for the required duration of fire exposure. A standard fire exposure is used to calculate the fire resistanceFull-scale Mass Timber Shaft Demonstration Fire.” [Read More]

Technical Report N.10 / American Wood Council. Image Courtesy of reThink Wood

Investigation Of Fire Performance Of CLT Manufactured With Thin Laminates

“Nowadays, the fire behavior of CLT panels made from solid-sawn lumber exposed to fire is well known and documented by a number of research organizations and universities. However, due to the desire to optimize how material is used in CLT, and ultimately lower manufacturing costs, CLT with thin laminations ranging from 19 to 25 mm in thickness has started to be produced in North America, which somewhat limits the applicability of some design provisions which were derived and validated from CLT made with 35-mm laminations. There is currently limited research on CLT manufactured with thin laminations, namely with respect to their fire behavior and specifically the effective charring rate.” [Read More]

Investigation of Fire Performance of CLT Manufactured with Thin Laminates. Image Courtesy of reThink Wood

Full-scale Mass Timber Shaft Demonstration Fire

“In support of the Tall Wood Building Demonstration Project in Quebec, QC, a mock three storey shaft and adjacent apartment was constructed to demonstrate the fire performance of the proposed structure. The contents in the apartment were representative of a high fuel load so that the fire dynamics and response of the structure when exposed to a severe fire could be observed.” [Read More]

Full-scale Mass Timber Shaft Demonstration Fire. Image Courtesy of reThink Wood

Find more related resources here.

Full-scale Mass Timber Shaft Demonstration Fire. Image Courtesy of reThink Wood

With the aim of raising awareness and expanding knowledge about the advantages of wood in the built environment, reThink Wood has created an online library that collects a series of articles, reports, studies and videos that can be freely accessed right now.

Here we have 5 outstanding resources related to fire safety, which can help you solve this issue on your next project.

Fire Safety and Protection: Why Wood Construction Comes Out on Top (Video)

“Hear from industry experts about mass timber construction’s proven safety and performance record for fire protection. Mass timber offers a distinct advantage because it chars on the outside while retaining strength. With innovative technologies and wood products such as cross-laminated timber (CLT), glued laminated timber (glulam) and nail laminated timber (NLT), wood meets modern building codes and outperforms other building materials.” [Watch The Full Video]

Fire Safety and Protection: Why Wood Construction Comes Out on Top. Image Courtesy of reThink Wood

Summary Of The Fire Protection Foundation Report – Fire Safety Challenges Of Tall Wood Buildings

“With new engineered timber products such as cross-laminated timber becoming more prevalent, this study evaluated the current knowledge of tall timber construction to identify gaps in knowledge, and where if fulfilled, will provide a better understanding of the potential fire safety performance of tall timber buildings.

The study identified a number of knowledge gaps, of which most were related directly to the new technology of engineered timber products that have resulted from the use of CLT. These included system-level fire testing, use of composite assemblies, CLT char fall-off and construction fire safety. The study concluded that the priority for future research should target three areas of research, being the contribution of exposed timber to room fires; connections between timber components and timber composite assemblies; and penetrations for building services.” [Read More]

Charring of an exposed timber member (Buchanan 2001). Image Courtesy of reThink Wood

Calculating The Fire Resistance Of Exposed Wood Members

“The superior fire performance of timbers can be attributed to the charring effect of wood. As wood members are exposed to fire and the wood begins to burn, a char layer is formed. The char layer acts as an insulator and protects the core of the wood section. Thus, wood members can be designed so that a sufficient cross section of wood remains to sustain the design loads for the required duration of fire exposure. A standard fire exposure is used to calculate the fire resistanceFull-scale Mass Timber Shaft Demonstration Fire.” [Read More]

Technical Report N.10 / American Wood Council. Image Courtesy of reThink Wood

Investigation Of Fire Performance Of CLT Manufactured With Thin Laminates

“Nowadays, the fire behavior of CLT panels made from solid-sawn lumber exposed to fire is well known and documented by a number of research organizations and universities. However, due to the desire to optimize how material is used in CLT, and ultimately lower manufacturing costs, CLT with thin laminations ranging from 19 to 25 mm in thickness has started to be produced in North America, which somewhat limits the applicability of some design provisions which were derived and validated from CLT made with 35-mm laminations. There is currently limited research on CLT manufactured with thin laminations, namely with respect to their fire behavior and specifically the effective charring rate.” [Read More]

Investigation of Fire Performance of CLT Manufactured with Thin Laminates. Image Courtesy of reThink Wood

Full-scale Mass Timber Shaft Demonstration Fire

“In support of the Tall Wood Building Demonstration Project in Quebec, QC, a mock three storey shaft and adjacent apartment was constructed to demonstrate the fire performance of the proposed structure. The contents in the apartment were representative of a high fuel load so that the fire dynamics and response of the structure when exposed to a severe fire could be observed.” [Read More]

Full-scale Mass Timber Shaft Demonstration Fire. Image Courtesy of reThink Wood

Find more related resources here.