What makes residential sprinkler systems sustainable?
If a material is sustainable, it must fulfil two objectives. First, it must be available to manufacture and install without causing long-term damage to the environment. Secondly, it must perform at its desired capacity for a suitable period of time.
BlazeMaster® Fire Protection Systems are designed for a service life of 50 years. We believe sustainable materials should be able to sustain quality performance for generations.
Let’s take a look at what gives BlazeMaster CPVC its long-term reliability, even over alternatives like steel.
Assessing fire sprinkler systems' life cycles
Lubrizol piping materials undergo a life-cycle assessment to determine energy usage associated with each individual phase of the products' manufacturing, installation and use.
Energy usage is measured across 13 categories (such as climate change.)
Below is a comparison of energy usage across all 13 categories, between BlazeMaster Fire Protection Systems and steel.
As shown, BlazeMaster CPVC outperforms steel in 12 of the 13 categories.
Download the full life-cycle assessment report here.
CPVC vs Steel for fire sprinklers in the long term
Manufacturing
In the global effort to reduce emissions and slow down the damaging effects of climate change, no industry is under more scrutiny than manufacturing and construction.
CPVC requires a lot less energy to produce than steel, reducing the construction industry's footprint in the early stages.
As a sustainable material throughout its life, from manufacturing to recycling, BlazeMaster CPVC is a reliable long-term resource for fire safety professionals.
Performance
BlazeMaster CPVC maintains a constant Hazen Williams C Factor of 150, maintaining optimum pressure loss throughout its service life.
Steel has a starting C Factor of 120, leading to further loss of pressure over time. In some cases, this requires energy intensive pumps and machinery to maintain optimum pressure.
BlazeMaster CPVC does not have increased pressure loss (the C Factor of the system does not decrease as the pipe ages) over time and can sustain reliable system performance throughout its service life.
Service life
BlazeMaster CPVC's designed service life comes from its inherent corrosion resistance in water distribution applications.
Thanks to its resistance to corrosion and scaling due to its high chlorine content, plus its ability to resist microbiologically influenced corrosion, if properly installed, BlazeMaster CPVC can protect buildings from fire for decades.
Meanwhile, steel's inherent susceptibility to pitting and corrosion often leads to pinhole leaks and weaknesses in the system, leading to loss of pressure, increased repair costs and in the worst cases, system failure.
BlazeMaster CPVC is sustainable because it is designed for a 50 year service life.
Learn more
Learn more about our commitment to reducing energy usage in the manufacturing process, innovating in sustainability with fire protection systems and most importantly, protecting living and working spaces from fire.
Download the Orange Book today.