LifeTime Lumber Approved for Use in Severe Fire Hazard Zones of San Diego County
SAN DIEGO-(Business Wire)-September 15, 2009 - LifeTime Lumber® (www.lifetimelumber.com), a revolutionary, eco-friendly deck, dock and fence material is now certified as compliant with building codes in San Diego County. Aiming to protect property and lives from fire within all of San Diego County’s Fire Hazard Severity Zones (FHSZ), and increasing efforts after a recent series of devastating wildfires within the unincorporated county’s WUI regions, LifeTime is now approved for decking attached to exterior fire resistant walls passing the performance testing requirements of Sec. 704a.5 of the San Diego Building Code.
The County of San Diego’s Department of Planning and Land Use recognizes that applying codes to external structures in fire hazard zones is a critical strategy to increase the probability that a home will remain standing after a wildfire is extinguished. By taking a two-pronged approach of arming the home with surrounding “defensible space” of 100 feet and requiring fire resistant exterior materials for wildfire exposure protection, the County is closely following the statutory mandate from the State of California to reduce the chance of building loss or damage.
“With deep roots in Southern California our company created LifeTime Lumber with wildfire threatened homeowners in mind,” said Jim Mahler, company president. “Receiving fire code compliance achieves our vision of providing San Diego County and others with products that are not only attractive and durable, but could very well help save their property in the event of a wildfire.”
What Makes LifeTime Lumber Fire-Resistant?
Containing no flammable materials such as wood, thermoplastic or PVC, LifeTime Lumber is a valuable engineered material for the building industry. Due to their complex cross-linking of bonds, thermoset polymers combined with recycled mineral filler are strong and substantially more heat-resistant than linear thermoplastics (the binding used in other brands plastic composite wood-alternatives). Thermosets are frequently used in aerospace applications where maximum strength and inflammability is required. A similar strength and non-flammability is desirable in building applications such as decks, docks and fences, and the accompanying fire-resistant properties are essential in areas prone to wildfires.
“By delivering a product that is up to 68 percent mineral fly-ash recycled from the electric power industry we’ve successfully harnessed a material that comes from fire and therefore is inherently nonflammable,” said Nisha Vyas Mahler, company vice president. “Implementing this material with thermoset technology has enabled us to develop a superior fire-resistant product, and we are pleased to now be recognized for our efforts.”
Additional Benefits of LifeTime Lumber Products
- Looks and feels like wood, with a realistic surface grain pattern that is never repeated
- Easy to use, the material is 25 percent lighter than other lumber composite products
- A lower carbon footprint material via a greener manufacturing process delivering a unique category of engineered lumber to the market
- Sustainable, made from 65 percent recycled content, fly-ash, a non-toxic mineral and able to be repurposed after primary usage
- Contributes valuable points toward LEED certification because of its make-up of recycled content
About LifeTime Lumber
LifeTime Lumber® is a unique, non-hazardous composite made from material recovered from the electric power generation industry. Ideal for building decks, docks and fences, LifeTime Lumber offers the aesthetic attributes of wood, while solving the problems of degradation, weathering and perpetual maintenance. Importantly, the material is neither a wood nor a thermoplastic, but rather a mineral filler created with polyurethane and fly ash which prevents rot, pest damage, mold, mildew and flammability. LifeTime Lumber is also eco-friendly as it is made from 65 percent recycled material, reduces the need for logging, emits no toxicity and uses less energy than other composite processes.
For additional information visit www.lifetimelumber.com, or call 760-603-9100.
 |
 |
 |
|
||
 |
|
 |
|
||
Search Our News Using Google Search
Can't find what you want? Try using Google:
