Combustibility of DCTech Vacuum Insulated Panels (VIP)
When something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Since the NCC 2016 Amendment 1 clarified the requirement for all elements of type A and type B wall construction, including the insulation, to be non-combustible, DCTech have been receiving many enquiries about our market-leading vacuum insulated panels (VIP).
Foil faced rigid foam board thermoset insulation such as PIR and phenolic insulation are deemed combustible and thus do not meet the non-combustibility requirement, creating demands for thin non-combustible insulation boards that also form an effective vapour barrier when installed to the interior of single skin masonry walls.
AS1530.1 and VIP vacuum insulation
Although the DCT VIP insulation is manufactured with a non-combustible core, a VIP cannot be tested to AS1530.1 because it is a laminated product. See the extract below from AS1530.1:
AS 1530.1
1.4 APPLICATION TO FIRE HAZARD ASSESSMENT
The test results relate only to the behaviour of the test specimens of the material under the particular conditions of the test, and are not intended to be the sole criteria for assessing the potential fire hazard of the material in use.
The test method is not applicable to products which are coated, faced or laminated. In such cases, tests may be carried out separately on the individual materials from which the product is formed and this shall be clearly stated in the test report.
NOTE: The performance of coated, faced or laminated products may be determined by other reaction to fire tests.
Is there a Deemed to Satisfy (DTS) Pathway ?
The route for DTS compliance as a faced or laminated product would be with Part C1.9 (e) (vi) in NCC 2016 Amend. 1 or Part C1.9 (e) (vii) in NCC 2019.
NCC 2019 Volume 1
Part C1.9
(e) The following materials may be used wherever a non-combustible material is required:
(vii) Bonded laminated materials where—
(A) each lamina, including any core, is non-combustible; and
(B) each adhesive layer does not exceed 1 mm in thickness and the total thickness of the adhesive layers does not exceed 2 mm; and
(C) the Spread-of-Flame Index and the Smoke-Developed Index of the bonded laminated material as a whole do not exceed 0 and 3, respectively.