[Cob] Fire Tests for Clay-Hemp or Light-Straw-Clay

[Shannon Dealy]

[snip]
> timbers land on the cob-cordwood walls. Therefore, we are proposing using 
> either clay-hemp or light-straw-clay to clad the walls and act as a fire 
> stop, providing both thermal and fire upgrades in one hit.
>
> The fire officer has requested a fire test for whichever of these materials 
> we go for.
>
> Is anyone aware of any official English language fire tests for either or 
> both of these materials? We need to meet 60 minutes fire resistance.

You should probably start by looking at the newer international building codes 
as they have some chapters on natural materials. Of particular interest to you 
might be the appendix on light straw-clay (I haven't read it):

    https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IRC2015/appendix-r-light-straw-clay-construction?site_type=public

the fact that it is in the international code may be enough to satisfy many 
people, however, for the skeptics, there was undoubtedly testing done in order 
for it to get into the code, so you should be able to trace from the code back 
to their sources. Often these kinds of tests are either performed by an 
industry group that stands to profit from the sale of a product or as a 
University research project. If it was done at a University, you may be able 
to find a research paper using google scholar.

The other place I would check is DCAT which is heavily involved in getting 
natural materials into the building codes:

    https://www.dcat.net/

FWIW

Shannon C. Dealy               |       DeaTech Research Inc.
dealy at deatech.com              | Biotechnology Development Services
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