{Construction} Material stops 2,000-degree fires -- but not in California (CNN)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Jim Kavanagh
CNN


(CNN) -- An eco-friendly building material might have saved some of the 80 homes destroyed in a recent wildfire in Southern California. But it can't be used there.

The masonry material, called autoclaved aerated concrete or AAC, can withstand a 2,000-degree fire for four hours, according to Underwriters Laboratories' test results.
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AAC is a mixture of sand, water, lime, portland cement and aluminum powder that is formed into blocks and cured in an autoclave, a sort of industrial pressure cooker. It has been used in Europe, where it was invented, for more than 70 years.
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"We've done all the testing, and the testing showed the material works fine in any seismic area," said Felipe Babbitt, a Mesa, Arizona, engineer who helped develop code standards for AAC block. "It has not been approved by California not because it can't perform, but because they have not done a thorough review of the testing data and are not convinced that it performs."
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California is the only state that adopted the 2006 International Building Code without the companion housing code that includes acceptance of AAC in seismic areas, he said. The two documents were meant to be applied in tandem, he said.
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more: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/06/11/green.building.material/index.html




Read the whole article for all the arguments and counterarguments. Much more politics than engineering seems to be involved.

[here_is_to_hope]

1. I wouldn't call it "eco-friendly", far too much

embodied energy in it.
But its a good product.
Cali though, does this with everything, be it strawbale, rammed earth or otherwise.