NORTHBOROUGH, MA — A worldwide manufacturer has opened a new laboratory in Northborough designed to test how building materials and construction systems perform during fires.
The 15,000-square-foot facility is the Saint-Gobain Group's first fire testing center in North America. Located at the company's Innovation Hub North America campus, the nearly $30 million project brings testing and certification work in-house, allowing Saint-Gobain to develop and customize fire-resistant construction products more quickly.
The Innovation Hub campus covers 26 acres across Northborough and Marlborough. Saint-Gobain said the full site will eventually support more than 400 local jobs following a decade-long transformation of the campus.
Researchers at the new center will test internal and external wall and floor systems under loaded and unloaded conditions. The laboratory will also evaluate fire-protection coatings used on structural steel in commercial buildings and infrastructure projects.
Testing can include simulations of real-life firefighting conditions, including examining how materials withstand pressure from a fire hose during a building fire.
The laboratory has digitally controlled furnaces and an emissions-control system designed to remove volatile organic compounds and other combustion byproducts. Saint-Gobain said the system eliminates smoke and odors generated during testing.
The center was designed to meet ANSI/UL and CAN/ULC standards used to measure the fire resistance of construction materials. Saint-Gobain's goal is to earn the ability to provide product certification credentials through the facility.
"This new, state-of-the-art fire lab will enable us to meet the demand to bring safer, more innovative solutions to the market faster than ever before," Todd DiNoia, Saint-Gobain's vice president of innovation, research and development, said in the company's announcement.
DiNoia said the center's emissions-control technology also supports Saint-Gobain's environmental, health and safety goals.
The fire center joins the Northborough campus's existing large-scale acoustic testing operation and other research capabilities. Together, the facilities will allow Saint-Gobain to offer customizable, on-demand testing for commercial construction projects ranging from small components to large-scale systems.
The investment is also part of Saint-Gobain's "Lead and Grow" business strategy, which includes expanding the company's commercial construction products and testing services.
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