Roofing Siding Direct is proud to support the Little Warriors charity. They help children who are victims of sexual abuse. To find out more about their cause, go to their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/littlewarriors (and help spread the word by liking their page). For the week of June 29^th to July 5^th Roofing Siding Direct will donate 10% of the gross profit of all sales to the Little Warriors. We challenge others to do the same.

 

Our prices are very competitive in Calgary. If you’re thinking of purchasing siding materials for your house or garage in the near future, this week would be a good time to do it. Get competitive prices and help a worthy cause at the same time. You can buy the siding products at http://www.roofingsidingdirect.com

Little Warriors (https://www.facebook.com/littlewarriors) is a worthy charity and does great work. Here’s a copy of one of their posts regarding a company that supports them.

Little Warriors is a national charitable organization committed ...to the awareness, prevention and treatment of child sexual abuse.

The Be Brave Ranch is a facility that will offer a family-oriented treatment program that combines multiple proven therapies for children ages 8-12 who have been sexually abused.

Sponsorships still available for the Be Brave Ranch! We invite you to be an 1. #EverydayCanadian that is helping to build the ranch.

Can-Alum's page is at: https://www.facebook.com/canalum.alberta

Fire Resistance

 The Construction Specifier
Solutions for the Construction Industry - October 2007


Fire resistance and combustibility
When used with various construction types and occupancies, vinyl siding must comply with sections of the International Building Code (IBC).

High ignition temperature
Low ignitability is the first line of defense in a fire. All organic materials ignite, but the higher the temperature a material has to reach before that happens, the safer it is. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) does not ignite until the temperature hits approximately 388 C (730 F) even in the presence of flame, and will not self-ignite until about 454 C (850 F). These ignition temperatures are significantly higher than those of typical framing lumber, which has a flash ignition temperature of 260 C (500 F) and self-ignites at 410 C (770 F).

High limiting oxygen index
According to research by the Vinyl Institute, using ASTM International D 2863, Standard Test Method for Measuring the Minimum Oxygen Concentration to Support Candle-like Combustion of Plastics (oxygen Index), to determine rigid PVC's high limiting oxygen index (LOI) shows the material takes unusually high amounts of oxygen to burn and remain burning. (1) It will not independently sustain combustion in air with a normal concentration of oxygen (about 21 percent).

Low surface flammability
Test results using ASTM E 162, Standard Test Method for Surface Flammability of Materials Using a Radiant Heat Energy Source, shows PVC as one of the materials with the lowest flame-spread rating, meaning it will not readily spread fire on its own. Vinyl products do not quickly ignite and are inherently flame-retardant due to their chlorine base. Regarding combustible claddings, vinyl can be seen as superior to other products, such as untreated wood, which typically has double the flame-spread rating.
Most vinyl products will not continue to burn once a flame or heat source is removed and have been proven to be no more hazardous than those products by many other common materials, both natural and synthetic. (2)

Toxicity
At least to some extent, fire hazards are also associated with the toxicity of the smoke itself. The most important toxic product in any fire is carbon monoxide (CO), which is produced by all organic materials when they burn.
The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) funded a comprehensive study of fire (and non-fire) fatalities associated with carbon monoxide. Published in 1992, it examined approximately 5000 deaths and found the toxicity of fire atmospheres is determined almost exclusively by carbon monoxide. NIST has since developed a new definitive smoke toxicity test that has found most fatalities occur in fires that become very large (i.e. go to flashover). The CO concentrations in these events are virtually unaffected by the materials burning.
Vinyl materials are well within the normal range of toxicity when compared to other combustibles, with lethal concentration (i.e. LC50) values of more than 8 mg/L. (3) The major combustion products given off by PVC are the same as those produced by wood or most other common materials. The one product given off by PVC not emitted by natural materials is hydrogen Chloride (HCI). Extensive studies have shown the mechanisms of action of CO and HCI are totally different, but their lethal doses are very similar. Unlike CO, HCI has a very pungent odor, which is detectable at a level of less than 1 ppm, while CO is odorless and narcotic. Therefore, HCI can signal people to escape, while CO will narcotize them. (4)

Read the PDF - Construction Specifer, October, 2007


(1) See "Fire and Polyvinyl Chloride,"a 1996 report by the Vinyl Institute. (2) See (5). (3) LC50 is the concentration of a material in the air that causes the death of 50 percent of a group of test animals. The material is inhailed over a set period, usually one or four hours. (The LC50 helps determine a material's short-term poisioning potential). (4) See (5).

Fire Safety and Vinyl Siding
Vinyl Siding Meets the Requirements for California Wildland–Urban Interface (WUI) Code


The California State Fire Marshal's office recommended that the Vinyl Siding Institute, Inc. (VSI) publish this information to show how vinyl siding complies with State Fire Marshall standard 12-7a-1 and Chapter 7a, Section 704A.3 of the California Building Code.


Vinyl Siding and Fire Safety:
For several years, the State of California has implemented regulations to help protect homes within WUI areas. Currently, Chapter 7a of the California Building Code regulates how buildings should be constructed to provide fire protection in these areas. The purpose of this regulation "is to establish minimum standards for the protection of life and property by increasing the ability of a building…to resist the intrusion of flames or burning ember projected by a vegetation fire and contributes to a systematic reduction in conflagration losses."

Vinyl siding applied over exterior gypsum sheathing panels have been proven to meet the scope and intent of Chapter 7a. Vinyl's chemical makeup makes it inherently flame resistant. Rigid vinyl building products are slow to ignite, have a slow flame spread, and cease to burn after the flame sources are removed. The products of vinyl combustion are no more hazardous than those produced by burning many other common materials, both natural and synthetic. Vinyl is one of the few materials that meet the stringent National Fire Protection Association's requirements for insulating electrical and data transmission cables, including in plenum applications.

The following describes several tests conducted with vinyl siding and exterior gypsum sheathing panels. These tests clearly demonstrate that vinyl siding applied with exterior gypsum sheathing panels meets the intent of Chapter 7a, not only because is vinyl siding a fire-safe cladding, but it performs as required in WUI areas.

Test #1:
In full-scale laboratory experiments at the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology, it took less than 80 seconds for flames exiting from a simulated house with combustible exterior walls and a window to ignite a similar house 1.8 meters (6 feet) away. In another experiment the flames from one simulated house again reached the second, but the gypsum barrier prevented damage to the building's interior. In both tests vinyl siding was used as the exterior cladding.

Test #2:
In June of 2008, the Western Fire Center, Inc. performed four tests using various types of vinyl siding. All tests produced passing results according to the requirements of standard 12-7a-1 and Chapter 7a, Section 704A.3 of the California Building Code..

Test #3:
There are numerous examples of vinyl siding's approved use with one and two hour fire-rated assemblies. Several third-party testing organizations have examined many brands of vinyl siding over exterior gypsum sheathing panels for use in fire-rated assemblies. The data from one such test by the Southwest Research Institute, Inc. is referenced below. These test results substantiate the use of vinyl siding with exterior gypsum sheathing panels as an acceptable assembly for compliance with Chapter 7a.

Calculated Fire Rate Assemblies:
In recognition of vinyl siding's fire-safe characteristics, the International Building Code (IBC)'s Fire Safety Code Development Committee recently changed Section 721 of the IBC to allow vinyl siding as part of a calculated fire-rated wall assembly method for code compliance.

Background:
The Vinyl Siding Institute (VSI) is the trade association for manufacturers of vinyl and other polymeric siding and suppliers to the industry. The purpose of VSI is to:
- Address regulatory issues, including material restrictions, monitoring of building codes and the education of building code developers and regulators.
- Help develop material, product, and performance standards by working through standards-making organizations and code bodies.
- Sponsor certification programs that improve the quality of siding and its installation.
- Provide a forum for issues of interest to the vinyl siding industry.
- Engage in product stewardship and outreach activities to enhance the image of the industry and its products.

VSI actively participates in the building codes and standards-making process and is currently a member of:
- ASTM International (ASTM)
- International Code Council (ICC)
- National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)

The Top 100 Most Connected People on LinkedIn

      

Here are a few interesting facts:

• There are only 5 women in the top 100, but 2 are in the top 10, and a total of 4 are in the top 20
• The U.S. accounts for more than half of the top 100 (55)
• The other 45 members represent the following 15 countries: U.K. (11), India (6), Netherlands (5), Canada (5), Brazil (5), Australia (3), U.A.E. (2), Turkey (1), Spain (1), South Africa (1), Israel (1), Singapore (1), Venezuela (1), Monacao (1), and France (1)
• As might be suspected, a solid percentage of the top 100 are in staffing/recruiting/HR (28%). Other highly represented industries include I.T., Management Consulting, Financial Services, and Marketing and Advertising.
• Beyond those top 5, the industry diversity in the top 100 is quite broad, including Logistics and Supply Chain, Telecommunications, Wine and Spirits, Construction, Transportation, Internet, Online Media, Think Tanks, Venture Capital, Utilities, Aviation and Aerospace, Computer and Network Security, Research, Translation and Localization, Photography, Mining and Metals, Real Estate, Security and Investigations, Public Policy, Accounting, Pharmaceuticals, and Non-Profit.

You might be surprised to know that it takes at least 36,000 1st degree connections to crack the top 10.
If you try to send invitations to connect with these folks, don’t be upset if they aren’t accepted – some of them simply can’t be.
Once you hit the 30,000 1st degree connection mark, LinkedIn won’t allow you to accept invitations to connect – so any connections added past that point must be invitations sent out to others to accept.
And so, without further ado, here is the list of the top 100 most connected people on LinkedIn:




 

Vinyl Siding safe siding option
Alberta Sides with Safety ( VSI - Vinyl Siding Institute)


For decades, vinyl siding has been used more than any other cladding in Alberta because it delivers beauty, durability, curb appeal and safety at an affordable cost.

Safe homes use fire-safe claddings, which include vinyl siding. It is composed mainly of polyvinyl chloride, more commonly known as vinyl or PVC, and it is inherently flame-retardant. Due to its chlorine base, PVC does not ignite, even from another flame, until it reaches approximately 730°F (387°C).

Recent changes to the National Building Code have created requirements to make homes even safer by specifying the use of vinyl siding with gypsum board sheathing in higher-density developments. Over the past few years, the National Research Council of Canada agreed that vinyl siding is a safe cladding and does not contribute to the growth of residential fires.


Comment by a member of the Alberta fire service
A member of the Alberta fire service commented on the fire safety of vinyl siding saying,"As an investigator, I have known for a long time that vinyl siding is not the contributing factor in building to building [fire] spread."


Harder to Ignite, Easier to Extinguish
All organic materials (that is, anything containing carbon) will ignite. But the higher the temperature a material has to reach before it flames, the safer it is.

PVC won't ignite, even from another flame, until it reaches about 730°F (387°C) and won't self-ignite until about 850°F (454°C). Those ignition temperatures are significantly higher than common framing lumber, which ignites from a flame at 500°F (260°C) and self-ignites at 770°F (410°C).

Also, ASTM D2863 tests show that rigid PVC's high Limiting Oxygen Index means that it needs unusually high amounts of oxygen to burn and stay burning. Rigid PVC (vinyl siding) will not independently sustain combustion in air with a normal concentration of oxygen (about 21%) – so it extinguishes more easily.

A member of the Canadian High Intensity Residential Fires (HIRF)Working Group says, "As a sitting member of the HIRF, I am very familiar with the properties of vinyl siding and the limited direct role it has during a fire."


DID YOU KNOW?
Most home structure fires originate in the interior of the home. Only 4 in 100 house fires start on the outside of the structure and fewer than 2 of 100 house fires originate with the exterior wall surface.


The Facts About Residential Fires
The manufacturers of vinyl siding are committed to keeping their products a low fire risk. The facts show that exterior cladding is involved in only a fraction of all residential fires. Indeed, most house fires start on the insides of homes and are contained within their structures of origin.

The National Fire Protection Association's (NFPA) February 2007 report, Home Structures Fires, shows that fewer than 3% of all fires go beyond the structure of origin, and fewer than 2% of all home fires' source of origin is related to the exterior wall surface. In fact, only 4% of all residential fires start on the outside of the structure, but do not necessarily originate with the exterior cladding. The report does not cite any exterior wall coverings (including vinyl siding, brick and stucco) as the cause of residential fires.

Independent Sources Side with Vinyl
- The National Fire Protection Association's National Electrical Code recognizes the strong fire-safe characteristics of vinyl through its approved use as a residential wiring insulator. Millions of homes have been wired using safe vinyl-sheathed electrical systems for decades.
- Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. (UL), includes certain vinyl siding as accepted products in fire-resistive construction.
- ASTM D2863 tests prove that rigid PVC's high Limiting Oxygen Index means that it takes unusually high levels of oxygen to burn and stay burning.
- ASTM E162 tests indicate that PVC is among the materials with the lowest radiant panel index, which means it doesn't release a lot of energy when it burns.

What's the makeup of your cladding material? Vinyl siding features a chlorine base, making it inherently slow to ignite and flame retardant.


Slows Flames from Spreading
Results of ASTM E162-06 test, Standard Test Method for Surface Flammability of Materials Using a Radiant Heat Energy Source, show PVC as one of the materials with the lowest radiant panel index – meaning it doesn't release a lot of energy when it burns and will not readily spread flames on its own.

Vinyl siding does not exhibit sustained flaming when tested in accordance with NFPA 268 Test Method for Determining Ignitability of Exterior Wall Assemblies Using a Radiant Heat Energy Source.

When any organic material burns, it releases smoke that contains many different combustion products – mainly gases, many of which are toxic. There is no research to substantiate claims that vinyl materials release unusually toxic combustion products.

To learn more about how vinyl siding can help you side with safety – and do it beautifully – visit www.vinylsiding.org .

Vinyl Siding Certification Program
Administered by the Vinyl Siding Institute (VSI)


The vinyl siding industry has third-party product certification and certified installer programs. Administered by an accredited, independent quality control agency to ensure products and colours meet or exceed ASTM International standards, the vinyl siding industry has third-party product certification and certified installer programs. The programs also make certain installers have demonstrated knowledge of ASTM-accepted application techniques.

Since 1998, the Vinyl Siding Institute (VSI) Product Certification Program, administered by Architectural Testing Inc. (ATI), has allowed Canadian and U.S. manufacturers to certify with independent, third-party verification their products meet or exceed the industry standard for quality - ASTM D 3679, Standard Specification for Rigid PVC Siding.

This includes tests for weatherability, wind loading, impact resistance, and heat shrinkage, along with verification of a manufacturers' advertising claims of length, width, gloss, and thickness. To ensure sustainability per ASTM D 3679, the tests are conducted to confirm the vinyl siding does not contain lead (as found in some uncertified vinyl siding manufactured overseas).

The program also assures the project team the material's colours have been certified to meet or exceed the retention requirements of ASTM D 68&, Standard Specification for Colour and Appearance Retention of Solid-colored Plastic Siding Products, or ASTM D 7251, Standard Specification for Color and Appearance Retention of Variegated Color Plastic Siding Products, depending on the style. Further, VSI's colour retention certification process requires an outdoor weathering study to be conducted for each colour being considered. Resistance to major changes over time in a variety of climates must be demonstrated. There are nearly 950 certified products, with about 350 vinyl siding colours.

Since 2005, VSI's Certified Installer Program has trained and tested experienced vinyl siding professionals on their knowledge of proper installation techniques, based on the industry standard ASTM D 4756, Standard Practice for Installation of Rigid PVC Siding and Soffit. Currently, more than 3700 vinyl siding installers have been certified in North America, with more being added every month.