Fire safety is a priority for most architects and engineers. Government regulations also require commercial buildings to be completely fire safe. While ensuring fire-safety, you should not have to compromise with the aesthetics of your working space. The best method to keep your building both fire resistant and stylish is to install fire resistance glass.
What is Fire Resistant Glass?
Fire-resistant glass, also known as fireproof glass or fire safety glass, is a specialized type of glass designed to withstand high temperatures and prevent the spread of fire and smoke. It is a critical component in the construction of commercial buildings as it acts as a barrier, helping to contain fires and protect occupants.
Benefits of Fire Resistant Glass for Commercial Buildings
The use of fire safety glass in commercial buildings offers several significant benefits:
- Life Safety: The primary purpose of fire-resistant glass is to protect lives. It allows people inside a building to evacuate safely by maintaining visibility and preventing the spread of toxic smoke and flames.
- Property Protection: Fire-resistant glass helps minimize property damage by containing fires within specific areas. This can reduce the overall cost of fire-related incidents.
- Building Code Compliance: Many building codes and regulations require the use of fire-resistant glass in specific areas, such as exit routes, stairwells, and openings between fire compartments. Compliance with these codes is crucial for commercial buildings.
- Insurance Cost Reduction: Installing fire-resistant glass may reduce insurance premiums, demonstrating a commitment to fire safety, which insurers often reward with lower rates.
- Enhanced Aesthetics: Modern fire-resistant glass can be aesthetically pleasing, allowing architects to maintain design integrity while ensuring safety.
Types of Fire-Resistant Glass
While a wide range of fire-resistant glass options are available, like wired glass, ceramic glass, laminated glass, etc., each designed for specific applications, AIS Boropane stands the test of time. AIS Boropane is a monolithic, fire-rated safety glass that remains transparent even in the event of a fire. What sets it apart is the incorporation of boron trioxide, constituting 15% of its composition, which imparts superior features that make it an exceptional choice for fire protection.
Features and Benefits of AIS Boropane
- Low Coefficient of Thermal Expansion: AIS Boropane exhibits a low coefficient of thermal expansion. This property ensures that the glass maintains its structural integrity for longer, even under extreme heat conditions.
- Reliability: When it comes to fire safety, reliability is non-negotiable. AIS Boropane boasts an impressive 120-minute integrity rating, making it a trustworthy choice for complete fire safety solutions.
- Extra Safe: In the event of a fire, AIS Boropane restricts the passage of flames, smoke, and toxic gases. This not only enhances safety for building occupants but also aids firefighters in their efforts to contain the fire.
- Aesthetic Appeal: Beyond its exceptional safety features, AIS Boropane offers clarity that surpasses extra-clear lime-float soda glass. This means you can have both safety and aesthetics in one package, making it ideal for various architectural applications.
- Durability: Compared to normal annealed glass, AIS Boropane is three times stronger. This increased strength is due to its low alkaline content, which makes it highly durable and shatterproof. This reduces the risk of breakage during handling, transportation, and installation.
- Resistance to Breakage: The absence of Ni-Sulphide particles in AIS Boropane eliminates the risk of spontaneous breakage, ensuring long-term reliability and safety.
- High Resistance to Chemicals: This fire-rated safety glass is fire-resistant but also anti-corrosive and weatherproof, making it suitable for various applications in different environmental conditions.
- Eco-Friendly: In an era where sustainability is a growing concern, AIS Boropane is an environmentally friendly option with a low carbon footprint. Choosing this glass enhances safety and contributes to a greener future.
- Warranty: AIS Boropane comes with a 5-year standard warranty, giving you peace of mind and assurance of its quality and durability.
How Fire Resistant Glass Improves Safety and Security
Fire-resistant glass is a vital component of fire safety systems in commercial buildings. Here’s how it enhances safety and security:
- Visibility: Fire-resistant glass allows for continued visibility, aiding in safe evacuation during a fire. This is particularly crucial in stairwells and corridors.
- Containment: Fire-resistant glass acts as a barrier, preventing flames and smoke from spreading to other building areas. This containment is essential for the safety of building occupants and firefighters.
- Heat Insulation: While fire-resistant glass can withstand high temperatures, it also insulates against heat, helping to maintain lower temperatures on the non-fire side, thus protecting people and property.
Uses of Fire-Resistant Glass in Commercial Buildings
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Server Rooms
Most industries nowadays depend heavily on computerized equipment. As a result, owners tend to dedicate one room to storing all computers and electronic equipment. These rooms, called server rooms, are perhaps the lifeblood of your business. Since computers and other heat-generating electronic equipment are placed in these rooms, there is a considerable risk of accidental fires. Even if a fire breaks out in some other part of your office space, it can damage the computers stored in server rooms. Any exposure to fire can cause the loss of vulnerable data on your computer. To protect your data from physical harm, install fire resistant glass, i.e., AIS Pyrobel, in your server rooms. AIS Pyrobel not only resists fire but also effectively prevents the fire from spreading.
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Fire-Safe Floors
Most modern commercial spaces have glass floors as a style element. In the event of a fire breakout, ordinary or even toughened glass can shatter easily. It might injure your employees and cause excessive loss of property. To make sure that your floors do not catch fire easily, install AIS Pyrobel. Having fire-resistant glass floors will prevent the fire from spreading to different stories and will give you more time to evacuate.
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Glass Partitions
Glass partitions make most rooms look sleek, stylish, and open. An increasing number of commercial spaces are now equipped with floor-to-ceiling glass partitions instead of bulky brick or wooden walls. Regular glass does not provide any protection from fire or heat. Even if a small fire initiates in some part of your office, it can spread without resistance and cause glass partitions to shatter. Fire proof glass contains the damage in a small area and is not prone to breakage. On top of that, fire resistance glass like AIS Pyrobel is easier to maintain and reduces noise.
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Stairs’ Entry and Exit Points
In most commercial buildings, staircases are used as fire-safety exits. Therefore, it is crucial to enclose the staircase using fire resistant glass. In the event of an accidental fire, these doors at the staircase entry and exit points will prevent the fire from spreading to the emergency exit. This will make your building safer, sleeker, and more accessible.
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Doors and Windows
Sometimes, a fire might start outside your building, which will spread very quickly through regular glass windows, shattering them in the process. If you want to minimize the damage caused by external fires, install doors and windows with AIS Pyrobel. AIS Pyrobel prevents the spread of fire inside-out or outside-in, making your commercial space very safe.
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Lift Enclosures
Almost all multi-story commercial buildings have lifts. Traditionally, metal, or wooden doors were considered appropriate lift enclosures. However, metal and wood are not significantly resistant to fire and heat. Since metal and wood are entirely opaque, you cannot monitor a fire breakout from inside or outside the lift. AIS Pyrobel comes in here to provide optimum fire resistance and complete transparency. Having fire resistant glass in a lift enclosure prevents damage to life and property while also adding sleekness to your office.
How is Fire Resistant Glass Made?
Fire-resistant glass is a type of glass that can endure a high range of temperature differentials. It is usually made using soda lime, silica sand, and some added fire-resistant chemicals.
Boric oxide is usually mixed with the molten glass before subjecting it to a furnace. It lowers the coefficient of thermal expansion of glass, making it resistant to heat shocks. Apart from using boric oxide, several other chemicals and manufacturing methods can produce fire-resistant glass. Aluminosilicate glass containing Aluminium oxide is known to reach about 800 degrees. Aluminosilicate glass is highly resistant to most chemicals. Fused Quartz and High Silica glass provide perhaps the highest degree of fire resistance. Some types can withstand temperatures as high as 1000 degrees.
Several international ratings determine the resistivity of such glass.
- Class E: Such glass prevents fire, smoke, and flames and keeps the fire contained.
- Class EW: The level to which glass can limit heat transfer and contain a fire.
- Class EI: The ability of glass to prevent the transfer of fire and smoke.
Steps that Fire Resistant Glass Helps to Reduce Heat
During a fire, fire-resistant glass is critical in reducing heat transmission. Here’s how it works:
- Heat Absorption: Fire-resistant glass is designed to absorb and dissipate heat. This prevents the glass from shattering due to extreme temperatures, maintaining the barrier’s integrity.
- Insulation: The multiple layers and interlayers in laminated fire-resistant glass act as insulation. This helps control the temperature on the non-fire side, making it more bearable for occupants and reducing the risk of a flashover.
- Radiant Heat Control: Fire-resistant glass can also control the transmission of radiant heat, a major contributor to fire-related injuries. It helps protect individuals on the safe side of the glass from severe burns.
Why AIS Pyrobel?
AIS Pyrobel is a two-sided fire-resistant glass. At each step of fabrication, AIS Pyrobel undergoes multiple inspections. AIS takes the utmost care in designing and cutting fire-resistant glass for your commercial or domestic space. AIS Pyrobel has unique intumescent layers that provide added fire safety and complete transparency. Despite being fire safe, it offers free vision with minimal distortion. AIS Pyrobel comes in several types with different ratings. Our experts will help you choose the one most suitable for your commercial building.
AIS ensures that you have a hassle-free experience while choosing fire resistance glass for your commercial space. Our experts assist you in everything from shopping and cutting to installation. AIS never compromises on quality and provides you with world-class glass solutions. Contact us today to make your commercial space incredibly safe with AIS Pyrobel.