Efectis, a globally recognized expert in fire safety, modeling, certification, and inspection, performed the tests according to EN13823:2010 on Holland Gaas' netting. The material made the grade of the classification EN13501-1:2007+A1:2009.
Flame retardant material can be necessary (or will be necessary in the future), especially in the close proximity of electrical installations. Marcel Schulte of Holland Gaas informs: “We do not see that flame retardant netting will be applied in big production departments yet; in laboratories, in technical areas and in garden centers there is definitely a growing demand for this type of netting. The first garden center that chose a flame retardant accordion netting system has already been confirmed."
Insurance companies welcome this development
The risk of fire in greenhouses has been determined for an important part by the applied (building) materials. Willem Snoeker sector manager of Interpolis/Hagelunie, a major horticultural insurance company, welcomes the development of flame retardant insect netting in the interests of this branch. “We are cheered by the thought that people think about the fire risks of the material at the designing phase. In the current situation the netting is mostly not applied in a continuous way, and therefore this netting does not directly create a major risk reduction. Due to new developments this can obviously change in the near future. Besides this we think that greenhouse owners already have important considerations to opt for flame retardant netting."Gerdo Wennekers added: “This new netting can decrease the risk of fire or the spread of fire. The risk in combination with the effect is probably estimated low at this moment. The requirements of the governments and insurance companies become even more strict with every passing year, we can expect this need. We have seen this process also with screening cloths.”
Holland Gaas is prepared for what the future holds. "We at Holland Gaas will be able to supply a flame retardant version of our accordion netting for our current and new customers. We look forward to serving our customers with our new flame retardant products," Schulte concluded.
For more information:
www.hollandgaas.nl
info@hollandgaas.nl
tel: 0031 174 516180