[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] DK Board Co., Ltd. (CEO Han Gap-ho) has attracted attention by successfully mass-producing ‘DK Board-X,’ the first core-type semi-noncombustible insulation material in the EPS (expanded polystyrene) insulation field.
The successful mass production of DK Board-X is expected to be an opportunity to overcome concerns that exterior insulation methods are vulnerable to fire.
DK Board Co., Ltd. announced on the 14th that it succeeded in mass-producing ‘DK Board-X’ on the 11th and shipped the first product.
DK Board-X is an innovative building insulation material introduced in March that secured semi-noncombustible performance standards using only the core material (single material) through joint research and development with HDC Hyundai EP.
On the 3rd, DK Board-X received ‘semi-noncombustible compliance’ certification from the Korea Testing & Research Institute (KTR), a KOLAS-accredited testing agency. On the 8th, it also received ‘semi-noncombustible material compliance’ certification from the Korea Conformity Laboratories (KCL), an architectural safety monitoring agency.
In the heat release test, which has a total heat release criterion of 8 MJ/㎡ or less, stable results of 6.9, 6.5, and 6.1 were obtained respectively.
In the gas toxicity test, which measures the average immobility time of test white rats, results of 13 minutes 22 seconds and 13 minutes 27 seconds far exceeded the judgment criterion of 9 minutes, securing certificates from two accredited testing agencies confirming compliance with semi-noncombustible material standards.
It is also attracting great interest at construction sites.
Construction site manager Mr. A said, “The exterior insulation method, which typically uses dryvit-type concrete walls with styrofoam insulation materials attached as exterior wall finishing materials, has excellent insulation effects but has the disadvantage of being vulnerable to fire. With DK Board’s success in mass-producing DK Board-X, such concerns will be dispelled,” he predicted.
It is especially expected to be a perfect fit for the amended Building Act passed last February, which significantly strengthens fire safety standards for building finishing and insulation materials.
In fact, with the revision of the Building Act in February, from the 29th of this month, the semi-noncombustible performance requirement, which was previously required only on one exposed side of insulation materials, will be expanded to all six sides, including the back and sides.
Additionally, EPS insulation materials coated with flame-retardant materials on one or both sides or PF boards (phenolic foam) with attached aluminum foil will be prohibited.
Furthermore, from December 23, composite finishing materials made of two or more heterogeneous materials must secure semi-noncombustible or higher performance even in the core material.
Moreover, sandwich panels composed of steel plates and core materials, exterior insulation methods, or composite exterior wall finishing materials made of two or more materials will be subject to mandatory ‘full-scale fire tests’ in addition to the current flame-retardant performance tests, significantly enhancing the fire safety of buildings.
Lee Seung-chul, Executive Director of DK Board, said, “DK Board-X has been recognized for its suitability as a semi-noncombustible finishing material by the Korea Conformity Laboratories (KCL), which conducts the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s ‘Building Safety Monitoring.’ It is the only core-type EPS semi-noncombustible insulation material that can be used immediately on-site without worry during sudden building safety inspections.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is promoting additional institutional improvements such as quality control measures for building materials along with strengthening ‘Building Safety Monitoring.’ The Korea Expanded Plastic Industry Cooperative, representing the EPS industry, is also known to be strengthening direct investigations of construction and production sites to eliminate non-compliant and underperforming products.
Under relevant laws, constructors who violate standards related to insulation and other building finishing materials, as well as designers and construction supervisors responsible for the use of building materials, face imprisonment of up to three years or fines of up to 500 million KRW.
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