Mineral wool as a material and the manufacturing process
The purpose a material serves in a building, as well as the process used to manufacture it, must be considered during the specifying process.
Materials are not tested individually; systems comprising specific materials are tested. If a different product is substituted for any of the specific materials, then the entire system must be tested, not just the different product. For example, if the main work horse of the assembly, mineral wool, is substituted for another mineral wool product that has never proven its effectiveness in an ASTM E2307 test, then the whole assembly with the substituted mineral wool needs to be tested.
For the code and ASTM E2307, mineral wool is not tested by itself; the exact mineral wool product must be specifically named as a component of a tested system. A manufacturer of mineral wool, who is marketing their product for a PFC system, should verify their product has been tested as per ASTM E2307. For example, Intertek is a testing lab that lists mineral wool generically in their listings—meaning it does not call the mineral wool product out by name, but does state the insulation must be qualified by Intertek to be used in a PFC system. On the other hand, UL lists the mineral wool by its manufacturer and product name.
Renowned for its fire resistance, mineral wool insulation can deliver many different performance properties in the commercial building enclosure. The manufacturing process used to make the material influences the properties it delivers in the enclosure. Depending on the desired performance attribute, this versatile material may be produced to reduce noise in industrial processes, repel water in rainscreen applications, or absorb water in hydroponic settings. Installed in perimeter fire containment systems, mineral wool is designed specifically to deliver fire performance properties.
