IS FIRE-RESISTANT HOUSING THE FUTURE?

As global warming lends itself longer, hotter, and dryer wildfire seasons, fire-resistant housing is increasingly a necessity. Ask anyone high in the hills of California who is used to evacuating a few times a year. The need to design homes that can withstand fire has become a critical consideration for architects, builders, and homeowners. Fire-resistant housing saves lives, protects property, and it’s one of the best strategies we have to adapt to a changing climate.

One of the keys to fire-resistant housing is the use of non-combustible or fire-resistant materials. Traditional building materials, such as wood, are highly flammable and easily devoured in a fire. In contrast, fire-resistant housing uses materials like concrete, steel, stucco, and fire-rated glass can withstand high temperatures and will not burst into flames. This can slow a fire or stop it from spreading through a neighborhood like a row of dominoes. Roofing made of metal can also stop a fire from penetrating your house as embers from wildfires often land on roofs and start fires.

Fire-resistant materials improve a home’s chances of surviving a wildfire and reduce the risk of structural damage. In addition, today’s homes should be designed with wildfire safety in mind. Features like ember-resistant vents and non-flammable decks are a smart move. Defensible zones are another crucial design, where the area surrounding the home is cleared of flammable vegetation, reducing the likelihood of the fire reaching your home in the first place.

You can also apply Future Proof’s exterior finish to your walls. It’s a cement and glass composite that can be sprayed on new construction or existing homes. Once a binding base coat is applied, a Kevar mesh is applied on top. This prevents cracking and helps repel any objects that hit your house in a storm or wildfire. A 3000 sq ft home can be covered with our fire-resistant exteriors in less than a week. When installed alongside our roofing underlay, soffit vents and fire-resistant roofing materials, homes can withstand a 1200-degree wildfire for up to an hour.

As wildfires become more common, and more insurance companies pull out of wildfire-prone areas, it makes sense to create stricter building codes for fire prevention. In many fire-plagued towns, local governments are already requiring new homes to meet fire-resistant standards. And remember, you’re not just protecting yourself. If you can keep your home from igniting, that wildly increasing the chances it won’t spread to your neighbors’ house. Fire-resistant regulations could become the new norm as climate change intensifies, encouraging the construction of homes that can withstand fires.

In recent years, catastrophic fires have destroyed thousands of homes along the West Coast, Southern Europe, and across Australia, leaving communities searching for building solutions.
Fire-resistant housing is undoubtedly the best solution we have after stopping climate change. We must protect communities by adapting to a hotter, dryer world. The use of fire-resistant materials, innovative designs focused on fire safety, and stricter building codes are all important parts of designing homes that will still be standing once the fire has passed.