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Pr inted on Recycled Paper

Summary of New Mexico ASTM E-119 Small Scale Fire TestsOn Straw Bale Wall Assemblies

The attached docum ent is a comp ilation of information regarding testing don e by SHBAgra Engineering and Environmen tal Services Laboratory in Albuqu erque, NewMexico in 1993. Two ASTM E-119 Small Scale Fire Tests were conducted , the first on abare (un plastered) bale w all panel consisting of two-string w heat straw bales (18thick)and the second on a w all pan el wh ich had gypsu m p laster on the interior (heated) sideand cemen t stucco on the ou tside surface. A video of this testing, "Building With Straw,Volume III Straw Bale Cod e Testing" is available from Black Range Films(http:/ / ww w.strawbalecentral.com/ ).

The results of the fire tests were very imp ressive, in that the bare bale panel surv ivedfor over 34 minu tes before the test was stopped du e to a burn-throu gh at the center

seam between tw o bales and at one corner of the wall assembly. At the point that thetest was stopp ed, the bales were charred on ly 8 of the 18 thickness. The maximumtemp erature recorded on the h eated side of the w all was 1691 F at 30 minutes.

The plastered bale panel was tested for over 2 hours and w ithstood temp eratures thatreached 1942 F. The temperatu re rise on the unheated side of the test panel, after 2hours, averaged less than 10 F, with th e highest rise being 21 F. The plaster on theheated side of the panel cracked and wh ere the cracks were there was ap proxima tely 2of charring.

Includ ed in th is information p ackage is a report on other testing that was done inadd ition to the fire testing, but only the fire test data is includ ed here. Of the two tables

includ ed for the fire test, the one that shows the time by minu tes up to 30 minu tes is thetemp erature data for the unplastered w all assembly. The other is labeled Small ScaleE-119 Tests on Stucco Panels.

Also included is a copy of a report by Manu el Fernand ez, who at the time w as the StateArchitect and head of Permitting and Plan Review for the State of New MexicoConstruction Indu stries Division. As you w ill see from his report, he stated th ese testsproved that a plastered straw bale wall assembly is sup erior to a wood fram e wallassembly with the same finishes, in term s of its fire resistivity. These test resu lts arevery similar to those from the testing that w as cond ucted in Canad a, through th eCanad ian Governmen t testing programs. It is clear from these results that fireresistivity is one of the advan tages, rather th an a p roblem for plastered straw bale wall

systems.

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