Sure, wood burns well - where it is appropriate, in the fireplace for example. But anyone who has ever tried to light thick, massive logs just like that, whether with a lighter or a match, will have burned his fingers rather than the wood.
Solid NUR-HOLZ elements have an excellent fire protection value even without additional fire protection with a burn rate of only 0.7 mm/min.
Compared to conventional construction methods, the fire resistance is considerably higher. A conventional brick wall absorbs the heat of a fire immediately and transmits it. When a concrete wall is flamed at 1,000° Celsius, the temperature on the non-flamed side rises from 20° Celsius to 500° Celsius after one hour. This heat causes wallpapers and fabrics on the back of the wall to ignite very quickly.
During a fire resistance test carried out in Germany, 20.5 cm thick NUR-HOLZ wall elements were exposed to a 1000° Celsius hot flame for 100 minutes. After 90 minutes the temperature on the back increased by only 3° Celsius. The room closure and the thermal insulation of the wall are thus ensured even after 1.5 hours. After 100 minutes of flaming, the wall element still withstood a triple impact load. Thus a NUR-HOLZ wall element with a strength of only 20.5 cm fulfills the requirements, which are placed to a fire wall (REI 90 + M).) Access to and escape from the building are thus guaranteed over a long period of time without the risk of collapse.
Burning the wood produces charcoal, which forms a natural insulating layer and prevents further heating. This way it retains its strength and even a charred beam can still hold something, while steel would have lost its load-bearing capacity long ago.
A belt test carried out in Japan was also successful. In Japan, a conventional timber construction method is not actually permitted due to the high earthquake risk for new buildings. But NUR-HOLZ was able to convince in all respects - in terms of earthquake resistance as well as fire protection.
As you can see, your fear of fire is unfounded, because our NUR-HOLZ elements are safe and stable even in the event of a fire.
*) (LBO Baden-Württemberg and Berlin – status 2015)
Wood has the most wonderful acoustic properties.
On the one hand, the most beautiful and valuable musical instruments are made of wood; they have sound bodies that transform sound waves into enchanting tones. On the other hand, concert halls and lecture halls make use of the pleasant sound-absorbing properties of wood.
Even in the pure wooden rooms of an NUR-HOLZ house there is hardly any reverberation. The soft wooden surfaces gently absorb sound vibrations and also insulate external noise. Especially in the popular open living and working areas, this property has a positive effect on the room atmosphere - just as it does in commercial buildings such as schools, day-care centres or hotels.
Our NUR-HOLZ elements can even be used to produce soundproof walls. An example: A 30 cm wall absorbs 63 dB. Corresponding floor constructions on NUR-HOLZ ceiling elements also help to effectively dampen low-frequency impact sound.
NUR-HOLZ walls are statically self-supporting and, thanks to their special screw connection, significantly more stable than other glue-free cross laminated timber elements. Due to the positive screw connection not only the core layers but also the connected vertical board layers contribute to the statics.
The crosswise and diagonally screwed board layers also make the NUR-HOLZ elements torsion-resistant - yet they remain so flexible that they offer maximum earthquake resistance.
You will find further structural properties in our NUR-HOLZ planning brochure.