Rockwool Romania Promotes Fire Safety

Rockwool Romania has started an information campaign on the importance of using non-combustible materials in construction and has also launched a proposal for a national awareness day on fire hazards in buildings.

According to company representatives, Fire Safety Day will draw attention to the importance of fire risk prevention, which is a vital necessity for the safety of people and their property.

Given that last year alone, professional emergency crews intervened to extinguish 31,204 fires, an average of 86 per day, and the number of fires in homes is increasing year by year, the company’s representatives draw attention to the importance of using non-combustible materials in construction, as well as covering multi-storey buildings, schools, hospitals, and kindergartens with the same type of materials.

Specialists at Rockwool, a global and local leader in the production of stone wool, warn that in the event of a fire, it spreads quickly to the building’s façade, regardless of whether the fire breaks out from inside the building, from nearby or from a neighbouring building. Moreover, the spread of fire is much more accelerated if the building envelope has been built using combustible materials.

According to the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (IGSU), in 2023 alone, fires in Romania resulted in 268 victims, including five children, and another 857 people who suffered various traumas, including 46 children. Housing statistics will be presented in the IGSU operational analysis for 2023.

Company representatives point out that Romania now has a great opportunity to renovate to EPBD standards, as it has funds from the European Union as well as state funding available and the building fire safety regulations (P118) are being updated. Thus, for increased safety of properties, it is imperative that renovations be carried out with materials that are both fire resistant and energy efficient.

Through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) Romania receives EUR 2.2 billion for building renovation through the ‘Wave of Renovation’ project to reach the energy efficiency threshold. With an additional state contribution, the total budget has reached EUR 2.8 billion, of which about 1,500 residential buildings (apartment blocks) and 2,000 public buildings (non-residential) are to be renovated. The NRRP also provides funds for the renovation of hospitals, schools, and kindergartens, as well as for new building infrastructure. This work must be carried out in such a way as to achieve two objectives, energy efficiency and fire protection, as required by the new European directive on energy efficiency in buildings, published in the EU’s Official Journal in May.

As far as national regulations are concerned, the P118 standard on fire safety in buildings has been approved by IGSU and is currently with the European Commission for notification and makes it compulsory to use non-combustible materials of Euroclass A1 or A2-s1, d0 for the thermal insulation of multi-storey buildings, hospitals, and schools. All these measures will significantly contribute to reducing fire risk and protecting human lives.

“By establishing a national day for fire awareness in buildings, we aim to send a clear message to the general public: the new regulations on energy efficiency in buildings come with certain risks, if we look at the statistics, the causes of fires, the way they have been managed and the damage caused. It is good that we have public policies for decarbonising buildings, but it is important to take risks into account and take preventive measures when implementing them. Because it is in vain to renovate or build to ZEB standards, completely reducing fossil fuel emissions from buildings if there is a fire risk here. On the positive side, there are preventive measures to ensure fire safety in buildings. And non-combustible materials in building solutions for façade and roof insulation are key elements for safe and resilient buildings,” said Florin Popescu, Business Unit Director ROCKWOOL Balkan, and President of the Association for Fire Protection (AFP).

Rockwool organised an event at its factory in Aricestii Rahtivani, Prahova County, on which occasion the company’s representatives discussed all these topics in front of journalists, who had the opportunity to get acquainted with the characteristics of the products through live tests in the showroom and to see how the stone wool sheets are produced by Dual Density technology in Romania.

 

About ROCKWOOL

ROCKWOOL Romania is part of the ROCKWOOL Group, which provides advanced insulation systems for buildings, representing the group locally.

ROCKWOOL Group aims to improve the lives of those who implement the solutions offered, helping customers and communities to address today’s biggest sustainable development challenges: high energy consumption, noise pollution, fire hazards, water scarcity or flooding. Its range of products reflects the diversity of the needs of the world we live in, helping everyone involved to reduce their own carbon emissions.

Stone wool is a natural, recyclable, versatile material and forms the basis of all the Group’s business divisions. With around 12,000 employees in 40 countries and sales in over 120 countries, the ROCKWOOL Group is a world leader in stone wool products, from building insulation to acoustic ceilings, from exterior cladding systems to horticultural solutions, from special fibres for different industries to insulation for industrial plants and the shipbuilding industry.