The breakthrough removes a key technical barrier that has held again low-carbon timber initiatives.
Till now, each CLT scheme required bespoke assessments resulting from an absence of standardised testing — a pricey and time-consuming course of that created uncertainty for design groups.
The builder joined forces with passive fireplace safety specialist Siderise and Austrian CLT producer KLH to hold out the checks, which lastly present licensed particulars for cavity limitations utilized in CLT wall and ground methods.
The checks, carried out at Siderise’s Innovation Centre in Maesteg in South Wales, lined three high-risk interface eventualities utilizing Siderise’s EW-CB and RH25 cavity limitations.
All handed, together with the hardest “worst-case” checks utilizing 100mm five-layer CLT panels to European requirements EN1366-4 and prEN1364-6.
Willmott Dixon architectural technologist Jessica Winyard mentioned: “The work addresses a real technical hole that impacts each organisation working with CLT” and can assist speed up the shift to low-carbon development “whereas making certain sturdy fireplace security efficiency.”
The outcomes imply CLT initiatives can now use standardised cavity barrier particulars with out project-specific fireplace testing — saving time, slicing price, and decreasing threat.
